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Copyrighted. 



Plate 1. " The Woman Wailing for Her DemoxN Lover.'' 



.<y 



THE 



TREE OF KNOWLEDGE 



A Startling Scientific Study 
Of the Original Sin, . . . 
And the Sin of the Angels, 



WITH A HISTORY OF 



SPIRITISM IX ALL AGES. 



By Captain R. Kelso Carter, C. E., 

AUTHOR OF 

"Alpha and Omega; or, The Birth and Death of (lie World." 



SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.: 
O. H. ELLIOTT, Publis 

1894. 




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Copyright 1894 






BY (). II. ELLIOTT. 






ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 






Entered at Stationers' Hull. 




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V 



1 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER V 



<?<// 



?3 



PAGE. 

PREFACE 9 

|Bart I. — Spiritism, <9lfc an& 3teiu. 
CHAPTER I. 

NEW SCIENCE AND OLD TRUTH .... 19 

CHAPTER II. 

BRIEF HISTORY OF SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS . . 33 

CHAPTER III. 

SPIRITISM ITS OUTER FRAUDS .... 48 

CHAPTER IV. 

"transcendental physics" 80 

CHAPTER V. 

I HE LATEST phenomena ir.» 



i:;: 



6 CONTENTS. 

^lart Il.-rfte Original Shu 

r.\..i 

CHAPTER I. 

THE SEX QUESTION 185 

CHAPTER II. 

THE SIN OF THE ANGELS 220 

CHAPTER III. 

THE FALL OF MAN . 278 

CHAPTER TV. 

WHAT IS THE " CARNAL WIND? " .... 294 

CHAPTER V. 

THE CROSS AND PHALLIC WORSHIP . . . 337 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE MYSTERY Or INIQUITY ..... 378 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE CLIMAX 402 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PLATE. PACK. 

1. " The Woman Wailing for Her Demon Lover " . Frontispiece 

2. The Mighty Conflict 17 

3. The Rally 25 

4. Michael and Lucifer 35 

5. The Last Defeat 41 

6. The Spirit of Vile Fraud 49 

7. The Genius of Fable 55 

8. Foster Reading Folded Papers 61 

9. The Blood Writing C5 

10. The Famous Slate Writing 71 

11. Spirit Photography 75 

12. Heliodorus Punished in the Temple . . .85 

13. Knots in Endless Cord 97 

14. Table and Wooden Rings 107 

15. Chains of Darkness 117 

16. The Pit of Fire 1_>7 

17. The Messengeb of Evii 137 

18. Drawing Nearer 147 

19. The Creation of Eve 157 

20. Innocence 171 

21. Envy of Others' Peace 187 

22. Waiting His Opportunity 201 

28. The Seduction 213 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PLATE. 


i'\«.i . 


24. Tm. Fall Accomplished 


. 225 


'2.3. The Birth of Feab 


. 235 


26. Tick First SHAME . 


. 247 


27. Tin: Sense of < ii h.t 


. 259 


28. Drives Out 


. 271 


2!). Sis BRINGING FOB m 1 »i \ ill 


. 281 


30. Tin: FALL OF SODOM .... 


. 289 


31. The Strong Madk Weak .... 


. 301 


32. Tm: Blaoe River 


. 309 


33. Tm Hosi s of i ii i L<>-i .... 


319 


34. Serpen i- <>i Rj itoRSE .... 


. 329 


35. Misery in Companionship 


33? 


30. Tin: POINT in a ( llRCLE 


. 347 


:>7. v iriattons of i in. Cross .... 


. 353 


38. Tin-: Breadtb <•! Redemption 


.,371 


39. The Depth «>i Redemption 


. 391 


40. Tin: BLfilGHT <>i REDEMPTION . 


. 399 


41. The Hallelujah Chorus .... 


. 419 



The publisher acknowledges the use of plates 13 and 14 from Zoll- 
ner's book, "Transcendental Physics." The magnificent designs of 
Gustave Dore are so perfectly suited to the argument of this book that 
it hardly seems possible they could have been more appropriate if the 
great French artist had drawn them specially for this work. Many of 
the illustrations are from original designs, and were engraved expressly 
for this volume. 



PREFACE. 



This book may rightly he styled " unique." 
(There is nothing like it in the world, ^although 
many things in it are to be found under the 
shadow of great and honored names, like those 
of Dr. A. J. Gordon, of Boston, and G. H. Pcm- 
ber, of England. When such men think there is 
something in the theories presented herein, ordi- 
nary minds may well examine the evidences with- 
out allowing prejudice to forestall judgment. 

This book calmly examines the available state- 
ments and facts concerning the Teal nature of^the 
sin committed by Eve, and of the sin of the 
wicked angels with the daughters of the ante- 
diluvians. It studies into the special sin of the 
seven nations of Canaan, and couples these with 
many startling facts of more modern history, and 
with the evidence of the exist stice 

of similar evil in the present day, and with the 



10 PREFACE. 

predictions of Scripture that the same sin of the 
angels shall be reproduced in the present age just 
before the Crisis and the Coming Golden A. 

A brief history of Spiritualism in all ages is 
given, with a thorough explanation of its most 
important public including the latest and 

most extraordinary phenomena, while the veil is 
withdrawn from its so-called " mystei 

Many will undoubtedly ask, " Why did you 
write such a terrible lxx.lv 

He who knows of a pitfall in the road, and fails 
to warn his neighbor, whom he sees traveling that 
way, is guilty if the neighbor tumbles in. 

"But most people never heard of such deviltry; 
why then tell them of it?" 

"That is the old, old foolish reason given for 
trying to keep children ignorant of evil in the. 
world. Many a man has gone astray because he 
did not know the first signs of the enemy's ap- 
proach. The physician who gives warning of the 
coming of a dreadful plague, and who minutely 
describes its disgusting symptoms, is looked upon 
as a public benefactor, even if he cannot suggest 



PRE FA < I 1 

a remedy. But if he can, at the same time, point 
out a specific, his monument is assured in the tem- 
ple of fame?} 

" But why do you use such plain language about 
the most delicate matters ? " 

The scout who brings tidings of the approach 
of the enemy in general terms is worthy of praise, 
and receives it. But the one who supplies his 
commander with a detailed plan of the camp of 
the foe, the situation of each piece of ordnance, 
the number and position of his reserves, the plan 
of his intended attack, and the time of the move- 
ment, deserves immortal honor. It may be well 
to inquire how one can uncover the very depths 
of the " bottomless pit " itself in order that others 
may not stumble into it unawares, and not use 
" plain language." 

There is no time in this tremendous and crucial 
age to speak of "the gentleman in black " and of 
"hades." Tin- hurrying earth is rushing towards 
that quarter of the heavens from which some day 
will suddenly sweep down upon it the terrible 
meteoric storm that will bring the awful changes 



12 PREFACE. 

of the " Coming Crisfs," and usher in the next 
A.ge with all its marvelous conditions, and the 

very air is thick with the rumors of the approach- 
ing cataclysm. (Sonic of you may one day thank 
God that I was moved to tell you about these 
things, when you find yourself thereby qualified to 
warn a loved one of the treacherous evil that is so 
attractively disguised. 

If you think the Bible deals in metaphors when 
it talks about not " wrestling with flesh and blood, 
out with wicked spirits in heavenly places," you /Vy^* 
will have to differ. God has declared that '" In 
the last days perilous times shall come, and men 
shall give heed to seducing spirits ." I am trying 
to reveal to you the character and plan of attack 
of these same ''spirits.'' " Surely in vain the net 
is spread in the sight of any bird." The battle is 
on, and in view of its terrible nature and in the 
very face of such a foe, " a spade is a spade." 

This book has been written at the earnest re- 
quest of sober-minded men and women who at- 
tended my lectures upon this subject in the city of 
San Francisco, where I first delivered them. The 



PREFACE. 13 

only censure I received was for not speaking 
plainly enough, and I was urged to write out the 
whole thing so that the warning might go abroad. 

Hence this book. In order to fully grasp the 
scientific facts it is necessary to read my "Alpha 
and Omega, or the Birth and Death of the 
World." 

( ^P P (Remember that I am not the author of the 
theory of an unnatural intercourse with the demon 
world. The Bible repeatedly makes the state- 
ments on this point, and scientific research pre- 
sents a great deal of curious evidence. I merely 
examine the statements. li' you will find fault, 
it must be with the Bible, but no man can truth- 
fully say that these theories originated with 

tiik AUTHOR 



PART FIRST. 



Spiritism— ©It) an& IRcw, 




J 'late 2. 



TlIK MlUII IV ( 'oM'I.M'l. 




CHAPTER I. 



IRew Science an& ©Ifc Grutb, 



E live in a strange day. It is an 
epoch in the world's history. The 
revolutions of time bring to the sur- 
face startling evolutions of human 
thought and belief. What was con- 
sidered the truth yesterday is rejected as false to- 
day, and the foolishness of to-day becomes the 
acme of wisdom before the morrow's sun has 
About the best coat of arms for modern religio- 
scientifio thought would be a kaleidesoope rampant 
on a field d!or, (He or she who can formulate the 
most striking innovations, in such a way as to 
accumulate the largest amount of gain, both for 
themselves and their disciples, has the quickest 
and most numerous following: 



20 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

>w, no matter what skeptics may choose to 
say, one fact stares us in the face, this is char- 
acteristically a religious age. Note, not necessa- 
rily a godly or Christian age, hut a religious one. 

And who does not know that there arc many re- 
ligions in the world? Their name is legion, put 
there never was a time when the advancing tides 
of human progress, human discovery, and human 
invention made such daring and impetuous inroads 
upon the religious coasts of thought"! The Athe- 
nian spirit is abroad again, to tell and hear some 
new thing; and. following the laws of supply and 
demand, so potent in mortal affairs, the sun has 
hardly risen each day upon the scene until some 
ostrich-like production, deposited in the night, 
hatches forth another unfledged candidate for re- 
ligious lion or s. 

Curious creatures many of them are! With 
prima facie evidence of a purpose to fly, they yet 
sport mere germs of wings; and, living in the 
desert wastes of wild speculation and conjecture, 
they, when attacked, generally imagine them- 
selves impregnably defended when their very 



NEW SCIENCE AM' ol.D TRUTH. 21 

small amount of brains is hidden bv the shifting 
sand of a technical quibble, or some high sound- 
ing but meaningless concatenation of words. 

Again, this is an age of faith. Never were 
men and women so ready, — nay, never were they 
known to be so eagerly pining, and yearning, and 
aching to believe — something. Mr. Moody fre- 
quently alludes to the people who "arc living on 
what they don't believe. ,, He rather mistakes 
the indications. Very applicable to a past gener- 
ation, his words do not so well describe this pr< 8- 
ent day of 1894. Now, everybody believe.-. 
Everybody is in hot haste to believe. It is 
almost incredible to what an extent this mania 
for believing has gone. The daily attitude of our 
mentally active citizen appears to be described in 
the anxious inquiry, "Isn't there something new 
for me to believe to-day? I am just perishing t<> 
believe." No sooner is a "fad" presented than 
believers multiply like the shoals of herring and 
cod off our coast; and every fish immediately be- 
gins to spawn with such surprising fertility thai 
one is prompted to wonder whether the mental 



22 TREE OF KNOWLBIX 

waters will be able to afford sea room for the 
innumerable progeny! 

And this Lb the age of creeds. Oh! yea it is. 
Whenever you hear a modern Athenian stoutly 
maintaining his disbelief in the " creeds," just tack 
to windward, and coming up alongside his craft 
with a fair breeze, ask him to show you his own 
special chart of the coast, and outline his. particu- 
lar course, and you will speedily have another 
"creed" to add to the unlimited list. And the 
more violent his denunciation of other creeds, the 
nioie specious will be his pleading Wjv his own 
darling creation. 

I believe in science: I believe in broadgauge 
Christianity ; I believe in humanitarianism ; 1 be- 
lieve in the electrical affinities of mental spheres; 
I believe in Theosophy J I, in mental science; I, 
in Esoteric Buddhism ; I, in ( Occultism ; and when 
one is so far gone that he really has no faith at 
all, he snatches up the old bell-mouthed blunder- 
buss of the infidel and fires a scattering volley 
over the whole creation at once in the vague 
phrase, " I believe in the Truth I" 



NEW SCIENCE AND OLD TRUTH. 23 

Amid all this clatter there is not much room 
for the occasional voice that firmly declares, "(1 
believe in God, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, 
our Lord \Y 

Suppose a prophet had appeared in these United 
States at the close of the Rebellion, and had uttered 
this prediction: That, in less than a quarter of a 
century, thousands of educated men and women in 
this country, England, Europe, and India, would 
become outspoken advocates of Buddhism, that 
some phase of the despised heathen religions would 
secure more converts in Europe and America in 
twenty years than our religion has secured in the 
cast in a century ;^ that refined and educated Eng- 
lishmen and Americans would teach and believe 
that man's soul passes through an infinity of incar- 
nations or transmigrations, and that by becoming 
an adept through fasting, absolute continence 
("forbidding to marry"), and the refusal to eal 
animal food (" commanding to abstain from meat-. 
I. Timothy ii.), a man may he able to u recover the 
recollection of his previous incarnations"; thai 
they would talk of ''astral spirits" and "compel 



24 iki:k OF KNOWLEDGE. 

their souls" to go to any part of the universe at 
will, a la mesmeric media; that they would sink 
the Eternal Son of God to a level with a vast 
crowd of Christs, or those who have, in any a 
"suffered for humanity"; that they would deny 
utterly the vicarious atonement and scoff at the 
blood, prating of a general " at-one-ment " with 
the supreme powers of the universe, attained by 
discipline and the knowledge of the truth, instead 
of obtained as a tree gift; that they would pro- 
claim to the world that the Bible is a very limited 
and much adulterated record of truth, not able to 
stand the tots of " higher criticism," and that the 
real custodians of the deeper mysteries have been 
not the prophets, not the Apostles, not Jesus 
Christ, but the disciples and priests of Buddha, 
and especially a certain set of mystics avowed to 
be secluded in the mountains of Thibet, only to be 
found and approached by an initiate; that they 
would revive and rehash the philosophies of the 
Rosierucians, the Fire Worshippers, the Stoics, 
the Gnostics, and other ancient errors, mixing in a 
liberal supply of the old Canaanitisli worship of 




Plate 3. 



The Rally. 



NEW SCIENCE AND OLD TRUTH. 25 

"the host of heaven" (referring in Scripture to tho 
gods, or demons); that they would prate of 
"spiritual affinities" between men and women, 
outside the marriage relation ; write and talk of 
the "exaltation of woman," and the advent of a 
"female messiah," or "the second Eve," who is to 
save the world; that they should darkly whisper 
of a strange intercourse with the spirit world, of a 
possibility for women, and perhaps for some men, 
enjoying a sexual gratification with unseen beings, 
thus reviving the frightful sins of Canaan, and 
emphasize this teaching by the actual ceremonial 
marriage of a woman to a "spirit lover" in these 
United States; that they would start publication 
houses under the name of " culture," and issue 
books professing to be the depositories of all truth 
as preserved by the mystics; that esoteric (hidden) 
religion would be held up as vastly superior to the 
simple exoteric (open) religion of the cross, intel- 
ligible to a child as well as to the scholar; that 
they would openly publish and commend the prac 
tice of astrology, and even the "occult" or "black 
art" of the middle ages : and that they would find 



28 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

a crop of disciples ready to hand eager to believe 
all this and more 1 in Boston, New York, Philadel- 
phia, and London, well ! — 

If such a prophet had appeared, and so spoken 
twenty-five years ago, who would have done him 
honor 1 Whocould have been expected to believe 
such a prediction? Yet all these things have 
actually come to pass in this century of grace, and 
in this " enlightened " land of ours. 

But in opposition to all this, what has been 
done? What has Christianity to say? Can the 
theologians of our day present any answer to the 
charges of conflict between science and the Bible? 
It must be admitted that, too generally, the answei s 
given have been dogmatic rather than reasonable. 
In fact they are frequently bull-dogmaiic, — a mere 
tenacious holding on to a faith, without any dispo- 
sition or ability to meet the difficulties raised by 
the other side. But this does not in the least 
prove that a proper answer is impossible. The 
presence of a thousand men, utterly ignorant of 
the art of boxing, is no proof of the nonexistence 
of a gifted pugilist; and let us remember that very 



NKW SCIENCE A.ND OLD TRUTH. 

few individuals anywhere know anything of fenc- 
ing, cither with sword or tongue. It is a fad 
not generally grasped that true logicians are 
about as rare as skillful fencers; and no better evi- 
dence can be given of a lack of logical equipment 
than the slur cast upon a truth simply because it 
is not ably defended. We take Mr. Huxl 
proposition, that " one objection unremoved is as 
fatal to a theory as five hundred," and make " un- 
removed" equivalent to " unremovable." 

But suppose it be possible to meet all tlx 
called objections to the Bible record? Suppose 
the much disputed first chapters of Genesis can be 
shown to contain the only thoroughly scientific ac- 
count of the creation yet written? Suppose tin- 
old difficulties of the mention of light and the stars 
before the sun is spoken of; the absence of rain in 
Eden; the sudden change in costume of our firsl 
parents; the long life of the antediluvians; the 
Noachian deluge; the nonexistence of the rainbow 
before that great catyclysm; the unexpected result 
of Noah's grape juice; the coming of the wind 
after the rain instead of before it, as now univcr- 



30 TKKK OF KNOWLEDGE. 

sally Occurs; the singular mention of the seasons 
and of day and night, that they "should not 
cease"; suppose all these can be explained? Nay, 
more. Suppose a scientist takes his position upon 
the Nebular Hypothesis and the great law of grav- 
itation, and, standing under the wing of inflexible, 
admitted law, demonstrates, even to a nontechnical 
audience, that every one of these supposed contra- 
dictions is a great scientific necessity to the truth 
of the record; What then? Do not say it is im- 
possible. Remember the "fencers," and recollect 
that a negative proposition cannot be proved. 

It is no conceit whatever, but a profound con- 
viction, based upon years of scientific study, as a 
student and professor of civil engineering and 
higher mathematics, while pursuing the investiga- 
tion of the subjects herein mentioned, that leads 
the writer to firmly declare his ability to so explain 
these things to any intelligent audience. More 
than that, he has done so repeatedly (this book 
and its predecessor # being written in answer to an 
overwhelming demand that the lectures be pub- 

* ''Alpha and Omega, or The Birth and death of the World." 



NEW SCIENCE AND OLD TRUTH. 31 

lished), and has always carried conviction to the 

majority of his hearers. 

But how about the various religions alluded to? 
All have some truth mixed with them; and the 
logical answer can be found for all. Do you wish 
to know the mysteries of Spiritualism? Charles 
Foster's famous blood-writing on his arm, and the 
great , Dr. Henry Slade's wonderful messag 
written between two slates held in open view.' 
Well, the explanation is at hand. The writer is 
no medium, but he can do these things as well as 
their originators did them for him. (See a later 
chapter.) Do you ask concerning " Christian 
Science?" The reply is ready. The "Christian" 
is tested as to its consistency, and the " science 
tested by inflexible law and logic. What of as- 
trology? Many wonderful things, not generally 
known, along this branch of study, reveal some ot 
the most surprising proofs of the truth of the Bible 
ever discovered. Sacred astronomy ought to be 
understood by the Christians of to-day;, but like a 
great many weapons in their armory, it has been 
allowed to become rusty, and its very existence is 



32 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

not suspected by the vast majority. But so much 
is there here to know, that three or four whole 
lectures will not suffice to more than draw the 
outlines of the pictures.* And what shall be 
said of the field of sacred mathematics? Only this : 
that it is the most wonderful of all, and the most 
unanswerable; but into it, of course, the nonmath- 
ematical mind cannot be persuaded to follow. 

The farthest thought from the writer's mind is 
to seek to puff any individual. He aims to ex- 
tol the marvelous and infinitely exact truth. 
That is all. Knowing that the answers exist, and 
that they can be made intelligible to any average 
audience of moderately educated people, he neces- 
sarily makes the assertion fearlessly. The truth 
can be defended, if you have the facts; and the 
facts are not generally very abstruse. " He who 
runs may read"; but most people refuse to run. 

Nothing can exceed the floundering of scientists 
when endeavoring to bolster up an hypothesis based 
upon false assumptions. Nothing can be simpler than 
the unlocking of truth when you have the right key. 
Complexity is of man. i Simplicity is of God. 

* See "Alpha and Omega." 



CHAPTER II. 



Brief Ibiston? of Spirit manifestations. 

M 

fei^^PIRITISM is a tremendous fact- 



%m 



Whatever people elioose to believe or 
\ 1^/J{ not to believe about the alleged mani- 
^Y^J£7 testations of the spirit power, the 
Vf^ thing itself — Spiritism — is undoubt- 
edly a very present and prominent fact. The im- 
mense number of believers in Spiritism makes this 
fact of importance, for no man can sneer at the 
mere existence of a belief that enrolls millions of 
his fellow men among its votaries. He may laugh 
at the essence of the belief, but not at its exist- 
ence. Bearing this in mind, anyone will see that 
the presence of ten millions of people in our own 
country, who are believers in Spiritism, is suffi- 
cient to enforce the statement that Spiritism i- a 
tremendous tart. They, themselves, claimed this 



34 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

number of believers several years ago. I give it 
on their authority. But when we look abroad, 
and remember that the great majority of the in- 
habitants of heathen lands are ardent Spiritists; 
when we think of Africa with her mil lions of 
spirit and devil worshippers; of China with her 
dragon religion; and of the islands with their 
witch spells and various manifestations of the 
same general principle, we are compelled to admit 
the tremendous nature of this appalling fact, as 
we were not willing to do at a moment's notice. 

\The simple truth is that a very large majority 
of mankind is to be classed under the head of 
Spiritists in one form or another^ This will be 
admitted by all who consider the facts in the case 
as hastily summed up in the above statements. 
For the purpose of our discussion and study I 
will divide the whole thing into two parts — the 
outward and the inward. With the first of these 
this chapter has alone to deal; and we will now 
hasten to read the history of Spiritism, ancient 
and modern. 

Those who look to the < Rochester rappings as 




Plate 4 



MlOHABL AND LUOIFI i:. 



BRIEF HISTORY OK SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS. 



37 



j 



the origin of Spiritism arc very much in the dark. 
The thing is as old as Eden. 1 may point to the 
serpent in Eden as the first "speaking medium" 
of which we have any knowledge. The " sons of 
God," who "took to themselves wives of the 
daughters of men" (Genesis vi. 2), were spirits, as 
we shall see at length further on. Many exam- 
ples are found in the Old Testament of persons 
having dealings with spirits, as Jannes and Jam- 
bres, who withstood Moses, the Witch of Endor, 
and others; and in the New Testament such ca - 
as Simon Magus, Elymas, the sorcerer, and the 
Sons of Sceva, serve to point this fact. But I 
leave all these for future study, and begin to trace 
the footsteps of Spiritism in later times. 

(In the thirteenth century sorcery was rampant 
at Narbonne. In 1300 Pope John XXII. com- 
plained of people who indulged in "rings" and 
"circles" and practiced the "magic arts." In 
1484 Innocent VIII. issued a "bull" againsi sor 
eery in Germany. /// 1550, or thereabouts, thirty 
thousand persons were executed in England for sor- 
cery in various forms. In 1576 Bessie Dun lap, of 



38 TRKK OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Dairy, professed to be ''controlled" by the spirit 
of one Thomas Reid, who was killed in the battle of 
Pinkie, November 10, 1547. In ir> ( .)4 the French 
jails could not hold the people who were com- 
mitted on the charge of sorcery. In 1599 Agues 
Sympson told King James that she was a "heal- 
ing medium." 

About this time Pordage, an English preacher, 
founded the " Philadelphian " society, and later 
the "Angelic Brethren." They claimed to 
spirits, and to have messages from them. At 
Lund some of the nuns became affected and 
"wrote miraculously" at the dictation of the 
spirits. 

In 1612 occurred the famous manifestations at 
the house of the Rev. Mr. Perreaud, in Bur- 
gundy. Curtains were drawn violently away from 
the bed, just after the occupants had retired, and 
in the full light of the candles. Knocks of the 
most violent description abounded. Many arti- 
cles w r ere thrown about the rooms. 

The elders of the church instituted the most 
careful watch, but the manifestations went on just 



BRIEF HISTORt OF SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS. 39 



the same. The spirits would sing, and cry, and 
pray the Lord's Prayer, and repeat the Ten Com- 
mandments. The candlestick was snatched from 
the servant's hand, leaving the candle in her fin- 
gers. No trick or fraud was at any time detected 
in connection with these remarkable oecurrenc< 

In 1()80 came the wonderful excitement in this 
country. The fame of the Salem witches has 
been sounded far and wide, but very few are aware 
of the amount of sober evidence on the subject, 
tending to establish the occurrence of unaccount- 
able phenomena. To those who think of Cotton 
Mather and his associates as a superstitious set oi 
fools it may be a matter of surprise to be assured 
that the most startling things occurred in the 
very presence of too many witnesses to set it all 
aside with a shake of the head. Girls passed 
right through the air. They talked in any Ian- 
guage, though when out of the trance they knew 
none except their mother tongue! One medium 
paraphrased the Psalms in such fine language as 
to amaze her auditors. Another was raised from 
the lloor and held for a considerable time actually 



40 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

suspended without any support. All these and 
many other extraordinary incidents were witnessed 
to by the most reliable people, in a way to make 
us doubt all evidence whatever, if it was an entire 
delusion. Of course we arc familiar with the tact 
that many of these poor creatures were executed 
during the excitement that prevailed. 

The year 1 7 1 (> saw the most famous manifesta- 
tions of all, the "(Epworth RappingsY These oc- 
curred at the home of the father of John and 
( Jharles Wesley, the founders of Methodism. No 
sane man can read the mass of evidence on this 
topic without experiencing some very queer 'feel- 
ings. If evidence establishes anything at all, then 
it is certain that a large number of most unac- 
countable things occurred during these manifesta- 
tions. Knocks were heard in all parts of the 
house, and at all hours. The cradle with the 
baby in it began suddenly to rock violently. The 
sleeping children broke out into profuse sweats and 
moaned in their sleep. The wooden trencher on 
the supper table spun and danced of its own accord, 
before their eyes. Mr. Wesley was met at his 



44 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

more properly originated ; but my readers will see 
from the hasty sketch given already that this was 
by no means the beginning of the spirit perform- 
ances, as has been so commonly supposed. As to 
the genuineness of these later " raps," I will sim- 
ply refer to the fact that Mrs. Margaret Fox Kane, 
the girl who began the rapping at Rochester, has 
been on the stage in 1890 relating how she pro- 
duced the raps with the joints of her knee and 
great toe, and finding the people alarmed, continued 
the thing for her own amusement at first, and later 
became wedded to it on account of the widespread 
interest and excitement. # 

Since that time (1348) the mediums have mul- 
tiplied like the spawn of the herring. The whole 
land has been overrun by them. The genus has 
branched out into a great number of species. We 
now have speaking mediums, seeing mediums, tip- 
ping mediums, rapping mediums, painting, singing, 
dancing, healing, writing, materializing, and test 
mediums, etc. 

*Still later, however, I am told she has stated that these letters and 
"expositions " were given for money, and that the explanations were not 
true. Evidently we must depend on other witnesses than the "medium. " 



BRIEF BISTORT OF SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS. ID 

The exceedingly trivial nature of all these mani- 
festations has not escaped the comment of the 
leading Spiritists themselves. Mr. A. R. Wal- 
lace, in endeavoring to account for it, remarks 
that most people are very commonplace, and that 
therefore the majority of the manifestations are 
commonplace. A leading Spiritist of England 
recently told Lady Sandhurst that 'the Spiritual- 
ists of England are about the poorest lot of cr a 
tures that God ever made." But it certainly 
seems strange that among all the spirits of tin 
dear departed none have ever risen above the low 
plane of these absurdly trivial tricks. Even when 
quoting from Homer and Shakespeare the spooks 
do not seem to have the slightest idea of the fit- 
ness of things. A leading Spiritist sent Mr. 
Stead, the editor of The Review of Reviews, the 
following, as coming to him from Homer himself. 
It is descriptive of the youth of Shakespeare, and 
was narrated by his daughter Susanna: — 

To brook for eels he oft did hie, 
lint fonder was of pigeon pie. 
Planted he there that thrh ing tree, 
Bought he this box of lurch tor me. 



44 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

more properly originated ; but my readers will see 
from the hasty sketch given already that this was 
by no means the beginning of the spirit perform- 
ances, as has been so commonly supposed. As to 
the genuineness of these later " raps," I will sim- 
ply refer to the fact that Mrs. Margaret Fox Kane, 
the girl who began the rapping at Rochester, has 
been on the stage in 1890 relating how she pro- 
duced the raps with the joints of her knee and 
great toe, and finding the people alarmed, continued 
the thing for her own amusement at first, and later 
became wedded to it on account of the widespread 
interest and excitement. # 

Since that time (1348) the mediums have mul- 
tiplied like the spawn of the herring. The whole 
land has been overrun by them. The genus has 
branched out into a great number of species. We 
now have speaking mediums, seeing mediums, tip- 
ping mediums, rapping mediums, painting, singing, 
dancing, healing, writing, materializing, and test 
mediums, etc. 

*Still later, however, I am told she has stated that these letters and 
"expositions" were given for money, and that the explanations were not 
true. Evidently we must depend on other witnesses than the ' ' medium. " 



BRIEF BISTORT OF SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS. 4j 

The exceedingly trivial nature of all these mani- 
festations has not escaped the comment of the 
leading Spiritists themselves. Mr. A. R. Wal- 
lace, in endeavoring to account for it, remarks 
that most people are very commonplace, and that 
therefore the majority of the manifestations arc 
commonplace. A leading Spiritist of England 
recently told Lady Sandhurst that 'the Spiritual- 
ists of England are about the poorest lot of cr a 
tures that God ever made." But it certainly 
seems strange that among all the spirits of the 
dear departed none have ever risen above the low 
plane of these absurdly trivial tricks. Even when 
quoting from Homer and Shakespeare the spooks 
do not seem to have the slightest idea of the fit- 
ness of things. A leading Spiritist sent Mr. 
Stead, the editor of The Review of Reviews, the 
following, as coming to him from Homer himself. 
It is descriptive of the youth of Shakespeare, and 
was narrated by his daughter Susanna: — 

To brook for cols he oft did hie, 
Hut fonder was of pigeon pie. 
Planted he there that thriving tree, 
Hmight he this box of birch for me, 



46 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Old "Jasper" with his pony brown, 
Which bore him off to Warwick town, 
"Harry, "his dog, has long been dead, 
And "Putsey," too, Susanna said. 

He and his mate one night did hie 

To where a neighbor's pig did lie. 

One gashed his throat with pigment red, 

And one with white "foamed" mouth and head. 

Next day the boys and girls did shout 

To see the monster walk about. 

"A sickening sight! Why aint it dead? 

The pig 's half killed! " the people said. 

When Mr. Stead ventured to suggest that this 
might cause the enemy to blaspheme, the corre- 
spondent indignantly replied that he considered 
the ''internal evidences afforded by the poem 
were sufficiently convincing." In this opinion 
Mr. Stead undoubtedly agreed with him. 
/I can but remark the amazing difference between 
such miserably little things and the majestic mira- 
cles of the Bible, — the cripples restored, the sick 
made whole, the dead brought back to life, the 
bread created for thousands in an hour, the sea 
divided, the thunder and hail, the mighty earth- 
quakes, and the resurrection and ascension of 



BRIEF HISTORY OF SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS. 4/ 

Jesus) And yet most of the people who accept 
the incredibly foolish tests of Spiritism are the 
first to object to the evidences, internal or external, 
of the almighty hand of God himself in the affairs 
of men> Camels are always easier to swallow than 
gnats. 




CHAPTER III. 

Spiritism— 3te ©uter jfraubs* 



i ANY honest investigators believe that 
the whole of Spiritualism is nothing 
but one gigantic trick, or rather re- 
petition of small tricks. Certain it 
is that trick has played, and does now 
play, a very important part in the outward show 
of the matter. This is not the assertion of the 
opposers of Spiritism, but the frank statement of 
its leading men. That there may be no possible 
mistake on this point I will quote from the 
authorities. 

Joel Tiffany, a leading Spiritist, says : " The 
point to which I want to call your attention is the 
almost universal fact that when a medium, devoted 
to external manifestations, is under the control of 




Plate G. 



The Spiri i op Vii e Fraud. 



SPIRITISM ITS OUTER FRAUDS. 51 

his presiding spirit, he is under an influence to 
deceive, to cheat, that is well-nigh irresistible." 
(Lectures, p. 122.) He says he has seen this with 
the most powerful mediums in the world. As an 
explanation he speaks of breathing through an 
onion stalk, by which performance the breath ac- 
quires the odor of the stalk ; and then likens this 
to the transmission of the spirit messages through 
the medium. Certainly this is terribly hard on 
the poor mediums, coming as it does from their 
own friend. 

In Mr. Stead's search for an honest materializ- 
ing medium, he was assured by the leading Spirit- 
ists of England that there was not a single person 
in the whole United Kingdom, accustomed to give 
that class of manifestation, whose name had not 
been coupled with fraud, except one woman whom 
lie failed to meet. This from the Spiritists them- 
selves. 

The most conclusive statement on this subject, 
and the one which gives the real secret of the 
tiling, is an utterance in the well-known Spiritist 
magazine called the Banner of LigJU, in October, 



52 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

1878. The writer states that it is the result of 
years of the most careful study, thought, observa- 
tion, and investigation. He says: " To my mind 
fraud has the deepest significance. In connection 
with Spiritualism's present status I regard it as 
essential. It is the safety valve ; the touchstone 
of Spiritualism. I say it without fear of contra- 
diction, take fraud out of Spiritualism and it would 
dash to pieces in twelve months. You would 
deprive it of its safety valve. Instead of curses, 
it (fraud) should receive blessings. The office of 
public mediumship is to divert the attention of the 
masses from Spiritualism per se. It is ever on 
the stage. It keeps" the ignorant world amused. 
It is the butt of science. It provokes the Chris- 
tian's mirth. It draws the ridicule of the ration- 
alist and the sneers of the skeptic. But in the 
meantime, behind the scenes, in ten thousand 
homes, the cause goes right on through ten thou- 
sand private mediums." 

I call special attention to this last sentence. It 
is most terribly true, as we will see later. Pos- 
sibly the progress of Christianity may have some- 



s 
SPIRITISM ITS OUTER FRAUDS, 

thing to do with the presence of so much trick in 
Spiritism. From their magazine, Mind and Mat- 
ter, for May 8, 1880, see the following. Ad- 
vanced spiritualists realize that the palmy days of 
Spiritism were before the Gospel light appeared, 
and the editor speaks thus: " Under the leader- 
ship and guidance of the learned Brahmins of 
India, the Mongolian people had advanced to a 
state of spiritual growth that has never since been 
attained by the most cultivated and enlightened 
nations of the world. Following in their wake 
the Magi of Western Asia had led the people, who 
recognized their spiritual acquirements, to a point 
that bordered on the sublime. Egypt in turn 
received the glowing light of spiritual knowledge 

as it- rolled on its westward course Such 

was the state of the world at the commencement 
of the so-called Christian era. The sun of Spirit- 
ualism had then acquired such power as to prom- 
ise to dispel the fast disappearing clouds of super- 
stition, ignorance, and selfishness, which had so 
long enveloped the world of humanity. From 
Eastern Asia to Western Europe, from the Arctic 



54 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Ocean to the burning sands of Ethiopia, Spiritual- 
ism gave promise of a glorious and universal day. 
.... The barriers that had been raised to ob- 
struct the outflow of spirit communion were 
rapidly giving way, and the stream of knowledge 
was broadening and widening so rapidly as to 
promise ere long to satisfy every thirsting soul. 
Such was the propitious outlook at that period of 
the w T orld's history Step by step Chris- 
tianity advanced, and as it did so, step by step 
the torch of Spiritualism receded, until hardly a 
flickering ray from it could be perceived amid the 

deep darkness For more than eighteen 

hundred years has the so-called Christian church 
stood between mortals and spirits [mark this state- 
ment ivell for later chapters] barring all chance for 
progress and growth. It stands to-day as com- 
plete a barrier to human progress as it did eight- 
een hundred years ago." 

The importance of these words cannot be over- 
estimated. They contain more truth than the 
writer knew or intended. But the thought which 
prompted their introduction here was to show that 




Plate 7. 



The Genius of Fable. 



SPIRITISM — [TS OUTER FRAUDS. 57 

such opposition on the part of Christianity, at a 
time when the supernatural side of Spiritism was 
more prominent and powerful than ever before, 
had the effect of developing the trick and fraud as 
a substitute for the real. The tricks of Spiritism, 
as practiced to-day, are the merest imitations of 
sleight of hand. They never equal the best per- 
formances of the professors of that art. There is 
no sort of doubt on this point in the mind of any 
intelligent investigator, who has been properly 
equipped for his work. 

When the famous Charles Foster appeared 
about 1872, he astonished the world for a time 
with his clever reading of folded papers, and his 
showing the initials of dead friends of his visitors 
written in blood on his arm. Later Dr. Henry 
Slade produced his famous slate writing in Eng- 
land and on the continent, and finally held his pro- 
tracted seances with the professors of Leipsic 
University. As a result of these sittings, Professor 
Zollner wrote a book called "Transcendental 
Physics," in which he attempted to argue for a sup- 
posed "fourth dimension in space," which the 



58 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

spirits were able to utilize in order to accomplish 
Slade's wonders. In this country Rev. Joseph 
Cook took up these reported marvels, and on his 
famous Boston Monday platform committed him- 
self to an acceptance of them as genuine. He 
stated that he had talked with able professors of 
legerdemain, and that all agreed that they could 
not produce or explain such marvels as those 
wrought by Dr. Slade. Mr. Cook even went so 
far as to compare the reported passing of a shell 
through a table (one of Slade's tricks with the 
•Germans — a most elementary sleight of hand 
trick, by the way) with the miracle of Jesus pass- 
ing through the door to meet with his disciples 
after his resurrection. 

At that time I had not seen Dr. Slade, but I 
wrote to Mr. Cook that if he would visit Mr. 
Maskelyne, at Egyptian Hall in London, the latter 
would reproduce and explain all the manifestations 
actually done by Dr. Slade. Mr. Cook replied, 
thanking me for my note, but I do not know 
whether he ever profited by the suggestion. Some 
time after this I myself was able to secure two 



SPIRITISM ITS OUTER FRAUDS. 5 ( J 

sittings with Dr. Slade, in company with a friend 
— an expert prestidigitateur. I am quite well 
versed in the mysteries of the art myself, and be- 
tween us we had not the smallest difficulty in 
detecting the redoubtable doctor in all his per- 
formances. In my public lectures, from which this 
book has grown, I repeat for my audiences these 
famous tricks of the two notorious mediums above 
mentioned. I can do them quite as well as they 
did them for me, and in just the same way em- 
ployed by them. Several years ago I wrote up 
these performances in the Microcosm, but will now 
give a brief sketch of the chief tricks. 

Foster's reading of folded papers was accom- 
plished in this wise: He sat at one side of a small 
table. The visitors wrote several names on slips 
of soft paper, and folded the same. He did not 
see the writing, nor watch the writers. When all 
were written he took up one and another <>f the 
papers and pressed them to his forehead, mean- 
while keeping up earnest talk about the marvels 
of Spiritism. It was a very simple matter t»> hold 
one paper in the palm of the hand and naturally 



60 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

drop the hand into the lap, hidden by the table 
from the visitors. Here the right hand easily 
unrolled the paper while Foster pretended to balk 
to a spirit whom he located to one side. Talking 
earnestly to this spook, he leaned over to the right, 
and glancing towards his knee under the edge of 
the table, read the name on the paper. A moment 
sufficed to refold the paper and conceal it in the 
palm of the hand, and then he proceeded to des- 
cribe the name of the spirit in the most striking- 
language he could bring to bear. If the name 
happened to be a well-known personage, like 
Brigham Young for example, he would seize on 
the prominent characteristics of the individual in 
his description. Finally the name was announced 
to the startled writer. 

This foolishness was repeated, and then, having 
obtained another name in the same way, Foster 
suggested writing a question for the spirits to an- 
swer. While the visitor was busy at this he seized 
the opportunity to pull up his sleeve and write the 
initials of the last name (secured from a paper) on 
his wrist. For this he used a piece of ordinary 



SPIRITISM —ITS OUTER FRAUDS. G3 

red paint, or occasionally scratched his skin with a 
sharp diamond ring. Presently lie would 
through a lot of acting, complaining of pain, etc., 
and declaring that a spirit insisted on writing his 
name on his arm in blood. Then suddenly pulling 
up his sleeve he showed the astounded visitor the 
wet red letters of the very name he had written 
and folded up. The effect was sometimes tre- 
mendous. The questions written were read and 
answered in the same way. This trick was Fos- 
ter's stock in trade. I have met people who claim 
that he told them things about themselves that 
were yet future, but for me he only performed 
these absurd tricks in the manner described. 

Dr. Slade proceeded in this manner: On a small 
table, near him was a pile of common slates. One 
of them he handed to me for inspection. A s 
ond he showed me, but did not let me handle. 
(The uninitiated in sleight would not notice this.) 
He took a sponge and carefully wiped both sides 
of the slate he held and allowed me to clean the 
other. His slate was then placed on the tabic, a 
small piece of pencil laid on it, and my slate on top 



64 TEEE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

of that. We joined hands in the middle of the 
table while Slade talked glibly of spirits, and asked 
them if they would write on the slates. As he 
asked this question, he placed the slates partly un- 
der the table, and as a knock was heard, giving 
assent to his question, he brought the slates on top 
of the table and opened them to our inspection, 
then placed another piece of pencil on my slate, 
put his slate on top (it had been underneath — 
another point the ordinary observer would never 
notice), and holding the two right under my friend's 
chin, told us to listen to the writing. We distinctly 
heard a sound like that caused by a slate pencil. 
He then handed the slates to my friend, and said, 
" Open them and see what they have written." 
When taken apart, a long message was written on 
one of them. This, with slight variations, is the 
basis of all Slade's famous tricks. 

The explanation is exceedingly simple. The 
.second slate, which he did not allow us to touch, 
had the message already written upon it, and care- 
fully covered with a neatly fitting piece of black 
cardboard. When he passed the slates under the 



SPIRITISM ITS OUTER FRAUDS. 67 

table, asking the spirits if they would write, he 
dropped this cardboard in his lap, thus leaving the 
writing exposed, but on the under side of the slate. 
Returning the slates to the table, he lifted the 
upper one " to show us there was nothing there," 
and then placed the lower one on top, thus bring- 
ing the message between the slates, where it was 
wanted. Of course, then all that was necessary 
was to hold the slates anywhere, as on my friend's 
breast, and to gently scratch with his finger nail 
on the hidden side, thus making the sound like 
writing, and then to allow us to open the slates 
and see what was written. 

In receiving the statement that this is all there 
is to the wonderful slate writing, the reader must 
bear in mind the very effective talking of the me- 
dium. Dr. Sladc is one of the most accomplished 
actors to be met with anywhere, and looks you in 
the eye with the most childlike innocence, while 
he affects to be as surprised as you at the won- 
derful things done by the spirits. The uniniti- 
ated person is astonished and awed in spite <»t 
his incredulity, and this feeling grows with every 



68 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

new trick, and the skillful talk of the impostor, 
until the person becomes so amazed and generally 
confused that the most trivial things can be done 
without any fear of detection. Thus it was that 
Dr. Slade succeeded in fooling the learned Ger- 
mans to so great an extent. He would not have 
succeeded half so well with an audience of country 
bumpkins whose eyes had been trained in the open 
fields, and were accustomed to catch every move- 
ment about them. # 

In my own lectures, I easily go beyond these 
tricks of the redoubtable doctor, and show how 
readily the best of them can be outdone by a little 
real sleiorht of hand. / Of course, no one must be- 
lieve the generally vague reports of marvelous 
things done by such mediums, when such reports 
come from anyone not versed in the trickery just 
described. All such evidence is absolutely worth- 
less, for the simple reason that the persons giving 
it do not know where to look, nor how to judge of 
the movements of the medium, and are therefore 
not competent witnesses. 

* For more points on the German seances, see further on. 



SPIRITISM — ITS OUTER FRAUDS. 69 

(The various "cabinet" tricks are all as easily 
explained. The medium allows himself to be tied 
by a committee. After a good while, by skillful 
squirming, he manages to get loose. He then 
ties himself " in order to expedite matters," and 
the committee pronounces the knots to be first 
class. They are first-class frauds. By simply 
leaning in a certain direction, they are loosened 
so that the hands can be instantly withdrawn and 
as quickly replaced. In this way all that kind of 
trick is managed. The famous " materializations" 
are arranged by having the drapery for the vari- 
ous spirits hidden in some part of the cabinet, 
or to be reached through an ingeniously concealed 
door; the medium enters the cabinet, the lights 
are lowered, and the various transformations 
readily effected. If any bold enemy turns on the 
lights or seizes the spirit, finding it to be the me- 
dium, the faithful are taught that this is to be ex- 
pected, for the dematerialization must necessarily 
leave only the human medium. This form of 
manifestation has been so often detected that it 
has become rare A skillful use of minors, at 



1 



70 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

some expense in the arranging, enables the me- 
dium to perform some astonishing materializations. 
Professor Kellar, the magician, does some excel- 
lent work in this line. 

The table tippers and trance writers make a 
great deal of money out of their dupes. The 
thing is very easy, the chief requisite being an 
unlimited amount of cheek, joined with an utter 
disregard of the punishment promised to all liars. 

The "test mediums" sometimes display a fac- 
ulty that cannot be explained by any of these 
tricks, but must be dealt with on psychological 
grounds. Mr. John Slater will tell twenty peo- 
ple in one audience trivial things that they have 
said or done that day, and name their dead rela- 
tives without any writing or questions, etc. He is 
a first-class mind reader,.of the Bishop and Tyndall 
type. Only this, and nothing more. Passing near 
the susceptible persons in his audience, he easily 
catches some thought from their minds. Then 
lie begins to talk about it, and that makes the 
person addressed think the more intently upon it. 
This helps the mind reader to get more details ; 



SPIRITISM ITS OUTER FRAUDS. 



7:. 



and it' the thing does not appear to work well, he 
runs to the individual, and takes hold of his 
hand, sometimes pressing the hand to his brow. 
In this way he is enabled to read the thought as 
do the men referred to, who make no claim to any 
supernatural force whatever. I have seen Tyn- 
dall instantly read a long number from the mind 
of a gentleman by simply taking hold of his hand 
while the gentleman thought intently of it; and 
again have seen him, while completely blindfolded, 
driving a double team furiously through the 
crowded streets of San Francisco, without com- 
ing into collision with the vehicles or cable cars, 
guided only by the thought of a gentleman sitting 
by his side and touching his wrist. This power is 
akin to that displayed by the somnambulist, and 
needs no spirits to explain it. It is wonderful, 
truly, but not at all supernatural. When possessed 
by an unscrupulous medium, of course a great deal 
can be made out of it, and thousands of persons 
effectually duped. Fortunately very few mediums 
have this faculty so well developed as Mr. Slater, 
while men like Bishop and Tyndall scorn to make 



74 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

capital by perjuring themselves in ascribing it to 
spiritualistic influences. 

One of the most interesting manifestations of 
Spiritualism is that of " spirit photography." A 
person sits for a picture, and when the negative is 
developed there appears upon it the shadowy face 
and form of a spirit, generally some one connected 
with the sitter by relationship. Leading articles 
upon this subject have found place in the maga- 
zines, notably two in the Illustrated Calij vrnian, 
one written for and the other against the genuine- 
ness of the photographs. 

At once it may be said that there are several 
ways in which a faint shadowy picture may be pro- 
duced upon a negative so as to seem to appear be- 
hind the sitter or in front of him, allowing him to 
be seen through the shadow or specter. It is not 
necessary to give all the details, except to say that 
the faint negative of the spirit photograph may 
be arranged so as to print simultaneously with the 
regular one, the two appearing on the same finished 
picture. There are other ways in which the 
shadow may be made to show upon the glass plate 




1'late 11. 



Spirit Photography. 



SPIRITISM — ITS OUTER FRAUDS. 7/ 

or negative itself, and photographers have no diffi- 
culty in producing such effects. In the articles 
mentioned the writer who upholds the truth of 
the matter on the spiritualistic side himself admits 
that these ways exist and even says he is ac- 
quainted with them ; hut he insists that in his ex- 
perience with the photographer, Mumler, and 
others, he is certain that such deceptions w T ere not 
practiced. 

Mumler himself once gave a sworn testimony in 
which he declared most solemnly that he never 
practiced any of the methods of deception, but 
that the spooks appeared upon his negative of their 
own free will at all times. Dr. Clarke, the writer 
of the Califorwdan article, insists that the evidence 
given in his article is conclusive, and that none 
stronger could be devised. To this we demur 
most decidedly. Dr. A. Wilford Hall recently 
made a very tempting offer to the leading advo- 
cates of Spiritualism in New York to produce 
spirit photographs under perfectly lair and practic- 
able conditions, but the offer remains unaccepted. 
Many others have gone into the investigation with 



78 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

all honesty of purpose only to be convinced that 
fraud, and fraud alone, ruled in the matter. The 
statements of Dr. Clarke about his pictures seem 
very strong, but the scientific investigator dis- 
covers several crucial points where his account of 
precautions is incomplete, and the skillful detector 
of deceit is ready with suggestions and explana- 
tions at once. Even if some of these men may 
be admitted honest, we are irresistibly reminded 
of the words of the Spiritualist, Joel Tiffany, that 
a Spiritualist when under the control of his pre- 
siding spirit, is " under an influence to deceive and 
cheat that is well-nigh irresistible." 

Dr. Clarke says .that the pictures given with his 
article were " instantly recognized." Unless the 
originals were vastly clearer than the magazine 
prints, it is certain that one or two of them might 
be easily " recognized " by anybody, for they are 
so dim and uncertain in outline that a ready 
imagination would find no difficulty in seeing a re- 
semblance to some friend. On the whole we con- 
clude that the evidence so far presented for spirit 
photography is very slim indeed. In fact it hardly 



SPIRITISM — ITS OUTEB FRAUDS. 79 

deserves a place at all in the consideration of the 
matter. Most of the spirit photographers have 
confessed to fraud in the production of their nega- 
tives, and of the few who have not, not one has 
ever stood the rigid scientific and reasonable tests 
proposed by Dr. Hall and others during the last 
few years. 

This covers the field of the outer tricks pretty 
thoroughly in so far as the overwhelming majority 
of all public tests, even by the most noted me- 
diums is concerned. There remains however a 
small number of phenomena, supported by rather 
exceptional testimony, which must be fairly repre- 
sented before proceeding farther. But for these, 
other chapters are necessary. 



CHAPTER IV 

£ranscent>ental pb^atcs. 

^p^*pO be perfectly fair towards your op- 
' ponent is a cardinal principle in all 




m reasonably conducted debate; and, with 
l|f this in mind, I must give special atten- 
( %f tion to the extraordinary experiments 
carried on at Leipsic, during the years 1877, 1878, 
by four or five professors in the great university, 
in conjunction with Dr. Henry Slade. The char- 
acter and reputation of the gentlemen, and the 
fact that nearly all the experiments were re- 
ported as performed in their own private houses, 
in the broad daylight, under the most severe con- 
ditions, coupled with the fact that many of the 
tests were of such a nature as to allow the results 
to be preserved, defying all attempts to satisfac- 
torily explain them (if they were correctly re- 



TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 81 

ported), place this series of performances on a 
different plane from those already described. I 
will endeavor to give as clear a description as pos- 
sible of these remarkable seances, with whatever 
theoretical explanation occurs to me, and fairly in- 
dicate those for which no such solution seems pos- 
sible. 

The persons engaged in these investigations 
were Johann Carl Friedrich Zollner, professor of 
physical astronomy at Leipsic University, William 
Edward Weber, professor of physics, Gustave T. 
Fechner, professor of physics, and Scheiber, 
professor of mathematics. Besides these, Pro- 
fessor von Hoffmann and several others witnessed 
many of the tests. • 

The sitting room in Zollner's house was the 
place where the majority of the phenomena oc- 
curred. Slade was the guest of these gentlemen, 
and, Zollner says, no special money consideration 
entered into the arrangements. He, all along, 
declared himself to be as earnestly anxious to find 
out the truth as the professors themselves, and 
they testify to the gentlemanly character of his 



82 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

actions. It does not appear that these men were 
Spiritualists, but only that they were interested in 
the phenomena as such, and that Zollner thereby 
developed his theory that some beings may be ac- 
quainted with another " dimension in space " be- 
sides those of length, breadth, and thickness, on 
account of which they are able to perform what 
seems to us the miraculous. 

Of course it is agreed at once that any creature 
who does not possess a sense belonging to other 
creatures, is utterly unable to comprehend things 
which are simple to them. A man born blind 
cannot possibly understand what we mean by 
colors. You cannot explain the distinctions to 
him, no matter how long you try to do so. He 
cannot even tMnh in the sphere of color, but 
thinks of feelings and such sensations. So Zollner 
reasons that certain beings may have another 
sense by which they appreciate another dimension 
in space, and, by means of this, they can even 
pass a solid through a solid without rupturing 
either. When Joseph Cook compared Jesus' com- 
ing through the door into the room where the dis- 



TBANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 83 

ciples were gathered with the passage of the 
shell through the table, as reported by Zollner, he 

accepted the latter as a true account, and merely 
meant to allude to the possible existence of a 
" law " for such occurrences. 

\As a devout student of true science, I unhesi- 
tatingly lay down the postulate that all things are 
done according to law in this universe. Miracle 
merely steps on to a higher plane than that upon 
which man is able to walk, and uses laws which are 
entirely beyond his control, or even his knowledge. 
But that the laws exist, and that they are applied 
by divine power in miracle, no sensible reasoner 
will deny. With regard to the Leipsic phenomena, 
however, the very first thing asked is, "Did the 
tests really succeed as stated V With some very 
natural reluctance I answer, that later develop 
ments seem to cast grave doubts upon the accuracy 
of the published descriptions, and we cannot feel 
easy in accepting the statements of Zollner's re- 
markable book. The very gentlemen who were 
with him now utterly fail to support this extraordi- 
nary account in many most important particulars. 



84 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

I have read the book as carefully as possible, 
and see no difficulty in accounting for a great deal 
on the principles I have described. The slates 
were constantly used, but in different ways. One 
of the most remarkable in Professor's Zollner's 
eyes, was when he, Zollner, took both slates in his 
own right hand, holding one of them on the top 
of the table, near the edge, and the other just 
under the table, so that his right hand grasped 
the two slates, one above and the other under the 
table, the board of the table top being between 
them. Both of Slade's hands were on top of the 
table, and in contact with the left hand of Profes- 
sor Zollner, the room being flooded with daylight. 
A small piece of pencil was laid on the table under 
the upper slate. The sound of writing was heard, 
and when Zollner removed the slates, which he 
did without Slade touching either of them, writing 
was found, not under the upper slate, where the 
pencil was, but on the upper surface of the under 
slate, as though the pencil had written through 
the table. 

As an easy solution, I suggest the following: 




Plate 12. Heliodorus Punished in thb Temple. 



TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 

While Zollner alone handled the slates during the 
trick, yet Slade had handled them before, and 
himself gave them to Zollner, at the supposed be- 
ginning of the performance. I say the " sup- 
posed " beginning, because in reality it had begun 
before, possibly before Slade came to the room at 
all. It was a very simple thing to write a mes- 
sage on a slate, using a certain form of sympa- 
thetic ink that would not begin to show until it was 
moistened. This prepared slate was handed to 
Zollner with a second one^and he was allowed to 
wash both of them with a sponge handed him by 
Slade. This sponge contained either water alone, 
or with some solution capable of developing the 
ink on the slate. (I give no details here, as tl, 
is no use furnishing frauds with ammunition for 
their depredations on mankind.) No time was 
lost after the washing in arra limine; the sla 
above and beneath the table, and the act pro- 
ceeded. Slade talked enough to occupy tin- time 
while the developed ink dried, and assumed a whit- 
ish color near enough to that of faint pencil 
marks to escape detection in ordinary hands, and 



88 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

meanwhile produced the sound of writing in one 
of the many ways open to his experienced mind. 
As both his hands were held by Zollner, it is prob- 
able that he made the sound by means of a bit of 
pencil, or any other hard substance, attached to 
his knee or foot, and gently scraped against the 
table top (underneath), or the leg of the table. 
Anyone familiar with the laws of acoustics will 
easily appreciate the ease with which one's atten- 
tion may be* directed to a certain point as the sup- 
posed location of a sound, when really it is being 
produced somewhere else. In this way Zollner 
readily thought the sound of writing came 
from the slates, the conducting" power of the wood 
of the table making the delusion effective. Of 
course, when he removed the slates, the writing 
was there, and in this case, under the table, thus 
giving color to the ready remark of Slade that the 
spirits had written through the wood of the table 
top. 

Zollner's pocket knife was laid upon the slate, 
and the latter passed ' under the table when the 
knife was several times projected up in the air, 



TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 

falling on the table, and with the blade open. I 
mention this simply because Slack: produced the 
same phenomenon with trie, using the long pencil 
instead of a knife. Just as the slate was passing 
under the table the pencil was thrown out and up, 
so as to fall on the table or in my lap. Beyond 
any doubt whatever Slade himself threw the pencil 
by a dexterous twist of the wrist,- -a feat which I 
easily accomplished after two or three trials. 

Experiments were performed with the magnetic 
compass. The medium passed his hand over the 
glass, and no effect followed. Immediately on 
repeating the passes, the needle was violently 
agitated, even circling completely around in the 
box. It would not take a sleight of hand per- 
former long to accomplish this feat, by the simple 
transference of a piece of iron from one hand to the 
other, concealing it in the palm, as is so constantly 
done, and the effects mentioned would follow. 

For another class of tests I can oiler a possible, 
though not a likely solution. I refer to tin 
experiments during which some article suddenly 
disappeared from sight altogether and presently 



90 TREE CF KNOWLEDGE. 

reappeared. Zollner mentions one very extraor- 
dinary effect of this kind. A round-top table was 
gently laid on its side, with the leg (a central one 
with feet) under the table on which his and Slade's 
hands were resting. It w 7 as placed thus by the 
spirits, while Zollner looked on. After awhile 
he looked under the larger table, and the round 
one had entirely disappeared. Furthermore, it 
was not in the room at all. Remembering that 
this occurred in the broad daylight, in his own 
sitting room, and that Slade's hands never left the 

table for a moment, the full force of the test will 4 

* 
be realized. Suddenly, in the midst of the aston- 
ishment caused by such an event, the missing 
table appeared in the air, upside down, and near 
the ceiling, floating over the other table. Zollner 
and Slade both dodged, but were hit on the head 
and shoulder by the round table as it fell upon the 
larger one. Zollner says he felt the bruise for 
several days. 

During one of my own sittings with Slade he 
mentioned the fact that articles sometimes disap- 
peared, and on my expressing a great desire to 



TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 01 

witness such a phenomenon, he kindly asked his 
spirits to oblige us by removing a small paper box 
which he placed on top of a slate, when he passed 
the slate beneath the table. At once he arose, 
exclaiming in apparent astonishment. "Why, I 
declare, it has gone!" We looked under the table 
and all about, but could find no trace of the miss- 
ing box. Taking our seats again, the slate was 
passed under the table by Slade and immediately 
withdrawn, when the lost box was seen upon it as 
before. I need hardly say to the initiate in sleight 
of hand that we did not look for the box under the 
slate, which, while we searched, Slade kept in his 
hand. He simply turned the slate over and held 
the little box close to its under side by means of 
an extended ringer. That was all; and so ridicu- 
lously simple was it that my friend and myself had 
great difficulty in restraining our real emotions. 

But the floating table cannot be explained on 
any such hypothesis. I, however, offer the follow- 
ing as applicable to many such tests: An educated 
American, recently in India, witnessed the tricks 
of one of the best traveling jugglers upon the 



92 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

street. The performer, a tall, black-eyed man, 
looked all around, catching every eye with his 
piercing glance, and then uncoiling a slender rope, 
threw the coil in the air, where it appeared to 
hook over an unseen support. He then called 
out, and was answered by a boy's voice, and after 
some jerking on the rope a leg fell down, then an 
arm, and so on till the entire members of the boy 
lay at his feet. He made passes over them, put 
them together, and lo! the youth revived, climbed 
up the rope, and disappeared whence he came, 
while the juggler recoiled the rope and " passed 
the hat," or something to that effect. 

Next day the American went in quest of the 
same performer, accompanied by an artist and a 
man with a camera. The same performance was 
witnessed by the first, and was sketched by the 
second, who also saw precisely what the first did. 
But the negatives, taken rapidly by the photo- 
grapher, showed the crowd, the Americans, the 
juggler, the rope in his hand, but no hanging, rope, 
and no boy at all. 

The explanation is irresistibly evident. The 



TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 93 

practiced performer, by his keen glance, actually 
mesmerized the crowd, or most of it, — mesmer- 
ized the two Americans so that both saw the same 
things. Under his spell, as is common in such 
matters, the "subjects" saw what, and only what, 
the juggler made them see. But the little camera 
was not a " subject," and hence told only the strict 
truth. I remark that this is probably the solution 
of many of the otherwise unaccountable feats said 
to have been performed by Eastern jugglers in the 
presence of Europeans. 

Now, I suggest the possibility that Dr. Slade 
secured such control of Professor Zollner, that he 
mesmerized him in a similar manner, and caused 
a table to disappear from his view, and again to 
appear over his head in the air. The bruise, or 
sensation of one, can be explained on the same 
basis. Remember that the things " seen " by a 
mesmerized "subject" are precisely as real and 
vivid to him as if actually occurring. I say I 
suggest this as possible, but in view of the <>tlier 
tests, of which I will now speak, it (\<^rs not seem 
very likely, if they are correctly reported, that 



94 TEJEE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Slade used mesmeric power at all. A few more 
tests, like the appearance of a " small reddish-brown 
hand " moving along the edge of the table, and 
touching one and another of the gentlemen, and 
of a large hand firmly gripping Zollner's arm un- 
til it caused pain, though occurring in the full 
light, might be explained in the same way, and it 
is possible this may essentially cover the majority 
of phenomena. 

Let the reader particularly notice that the fol- 
lowing is said to have occurred during Slade's first 
visit to Zollner's house, when" he had certainly had 
no possible chance to arrange any effects with the 
furniture, even if those which were witnessed could 
have been brought about by trick. The gentle- 
men named were seated, with Slade, around a table, 
engaged in some tests with the slates. Suddenly 
a large bed, standing several feet away, and behind 
a strong screen, moved out about two feet from 
the wall, pushing the screen as it did so. 

Slade's back was towards the bed, his hands on 
the table, and his legs crossed and fully visible. 
The tests were resumed, when without a warning 






TRANSCENDENTAL PHYS] 95 

the strong wooden screen alluded to was torn 
assunder with a loud crack, like that of a very 
large battery of Leyden jars. The part broken 
fell away from Slade, whose back was turned to- 
wards it at the time, and his hand and feet fully 
visible, as before. Of course, this feat was not 
mesmeric. The broken screen remained in evi- 
dence, and the nature of the performance may be 
better understood when we learn that the mechan- 
ical force necessary to tear assunder such wood is 
calculated to be about twenty thousand pounds. 

While they stood looking on in wonder, Slade 
placed a slate, bought and washed by Zollner, on 
top of the table, with a little bit of pencil under it, 
and standing by the table, with his fingers pressed 
down on the slate, writing was heard by all, the 
slate lifted, and the message read: "It is not our 
intention to do harm, forgive what has happened." 

I could readily offer a suggestion as to the man- 
ner in which this writing may have been done, 
but in the face of such astounding results it is 
hardly worth while, particularly when we recall 
that all this happened during the very firsl visit 



96 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

of the Doctor to ZoJlner's house, and that the torn 
screen still remains in witness. # 

On another occasion while Zollner was talking 
to Slade, he and others suddenly saw his knife fly 
through the air and strike Professor Scheiber, 
who was standing ten feet distant from Slade, in 
the forehead. The scar was visible to all next 
day. Slade's back was turned towards Scheiber, 
and he could not possibly have thrown the knife 
without detection, as he and Zollner were standing 
together in the full light of the windows. 

One of the best of Slade's tests with the Ger- 
mans was that of tying knots in a piece of twine, 
both ends of which- were brought together and 
sealed down on a card. The sealing was done by 
two of the professors with their own cord, cards, 
and seals, and afterwards brought by them to 
the seance. The looped ends of the cords were 
allowed to hang over the side of the table on 
Slade's side, while the card was held down on top 
and in plain view. Zollner states that both Slade's 

* My comment on this and others as inexplicable is: Are the events 
recorded exactly? And why has Slade been unable ever since to repro- 
duce these effects? 




Plate 13. 



Knots in Endless Cord. 



TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 99 

] lands were kept on top of the table, and that both 
his feet were visible all the time. Yet, in a few min- 
utes the cord was laid on the table, and behold, three 
or four knots were tied in the unbroken string. 

Every possible precaution, he says, was taken 
in this test, the looped cord never leaving Zoll- 
ner's hand until laid on the table, and the hands 
of the medium remaining in full sight all the time. 
Two others were tied by Professor Weber. Of 
course, in this case, the results were permanent, 
and the cord has been preserved, with the seal in- 
tact. Yet Weber does not now spaak with any 
positiveness. 

Another remarkable result was obtained with a 
large bowl of flour, level full. This was set under 
the table, when a hand grasped Zollner's leg, and 
on examination all could plainly see the mark of 
the hand on his trousers, while in the flour was a 
deep imprint of a hand much larger than that of 
Slade. The latter gentleman's hands had never 
left the table during this test. Zollner kept the 
bowl with the imprint in the flour for many months 
as a proof of the result. 



100 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

On another occasion a sheet of paper was cov- 
ered with soot from a lamp, and laid on a board 
under the table. Suddenly the board was pushed 
out into the room, and there in the lampblack 
was the print of a naked human left foot. Slade 
was instantly examined, but his shoes and stock- 
ings were in place, and his foot proved to be at 
least an inch longer than the print. As usual, his 
hands were in plain view all the time. A reduced 
photograph of this paper has been retained. 

So impressed were the professors by this test 
that Zollner made special preparation for a more 
difficult one. He procured a "book-slate," — that 
is, one with hinges connecting two slates, like the 
covers of a book. Without showing them to 
Slade, he lined the interior with paper covered 
with lamp black, closed the book, and bound it 
about with cords, carefully sealed. When it was 
shown to Slade the latter seemed to think it im- 
possible for any prints to be obtained on the 
paper, but " asked the spirits" to attempt it, re- 
ceiving the answer, " We will try." 

To Zollner's surprise he was allowed to lay the 



TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 101 

slates on his own lap beneath the table, in such a 
position that he could look down and see fully one 
half of them. All hands were then "linked with 
Slade's" for about five minutes, when Zollner felt 
two distinct downward pressures upon his lap. 
He opened the slates in full view of all present, 
and on one was the clear print of a right foot, and 
upon the other that of a left foot.* 

But the most remarkable of all the tests with 
slates was the following: A large book-slate was 
bought, bound with strong cords, sealed with 
paper strips and stamped wax in four or five 
places. The frames fitted very closely together, 
so that even without the binding a sheet of paper 
could hardly have been forced between. Of course, 
after the binding and sealing no room remained 
for the insertion of any paper unless in very nar- 
row strips. All this was arranged by the pro- 
fessors, without Dr. Slade seeing any of the 
preparations. Professor Wach had written on 

* One geta the impression from the book that all the professors were 
present at most of the sittings. Hut they now say this is not so. Most 
of these tests were done in Zollner's presence alone, and Slade was 
allowed to dietate all conditions. 



102 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

the strips of paper before they were pasted 
around the slates, so that this additional test 
could be applied when opened. If any one had 
torn the paper off and replaced it, he could not 
have fitted the writing together on the under side. 
In addition to the slates, a sheet of paper was laid 
on the top of the table, a small bit of graphite 
placed upon it, and then covered with another 
sheet of paper somewhat larger in size. The lat- 
ter was done in the hope that writing would be 
obtained on the paper in lead pencil instead of on 
a slate. But this time a surprise was in store. 

On raising the paper cover from the table the 
other sheet of paper and the bit of lead had disap- 
peared. Not finding them anywhere, the use of 
the slate was resorted to, and the spirits wrote 
upon it that the missing paper would be found in 
the bound and sealed book-slate. Zollner did not 
open it, but carried it to the house of Professor 
Wach, who had written on the paper strips pasted 
about it, and allowed him to open it. Sure enough, 
there was the missing sheet of paper, smooth and 
uncreased, and bearing writing in lead pencil, ask- 



TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 103 

ino- if the investigators would not now believe in 
the "fourth dimension of space." The bit of lead 
was also within. Zollner points out the impossi- 
bility of. inserting the sheet of paper in any way 
unless it had been folded up into a narrow strip so 
as to enter between the crossing bands of paper 
and cord. But it was found unfolded within the 
slates. It is needless to add that no "explana- 
tion " can be advanced for this phenomenon, if it 
be correctly described. 

For the sake of variety I mention a few less re- 
markable tests. A large hand bell was laid on 
the floor by the side of the table, hands being all 
joined on top of the same. The bell was slowly 
and quietly pushed into Zollners hand, which 
alone was held underneath. Slade's hands did not 
go out of sight. 

Again Slade read easily marked sentences 
through two crossed Nicol's prisms, the effect of 
which is to absolutely cut off the light. He 
called this a " clairvoyant experiment." Of course 
this test presents no special difficulty for a mind 
reader like Mr. Tyndall. 



104 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

At one time Professor Weber's coat was slowly 
unbuttoned, his gold watch taken from his pocket, 
and laid in his right hand beneath the table. All 
other hands were joined above the table. Slade's 
hands never left the table top, and the room was 
flooded with daylight. 

Again, in the presence of three gentlemen, a 
book was placed on the slate beneath the table. 
In a moment it vanished, and could not be found 
in the room. Suddenly it fell from the ceiling, 
passing between the shades of the three-branched 
chandelier. This was repeated several times, the 
book striking Zollner on the ear from behind, 
while Slade sat in front of him. As against the 
mesmeric suggestion in this case, may be men- 
tioned the fact that Slade asserted he saw lights 
in the upper part of the room, which assertion he 
also made when the round table floated in the air. 
But no one saw the lights except himself. If un- 
der a mesmeric influence it is not likely that the 
subjects would fail to see what the operator plainly 
told them was visible. I mention this to give fair 
play. 



TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 105 

Two bands of soft leather were arranged in a 
way similar to the looped cord already described. 
The ends of botli were sealed to cards, and the 
seals stamped by the professors. But these looped 
bands were suddenly passed through one another 
in the most intricate manner. They are still pre- 
served, and the seals are unbroken. 

Perhaps the most extraordinary test of all re- 
mains to be described. Two stout wooden rings 
were obtained, one made of alder, and the other 
of oak. They were several inches in diameter. 
These rings were strung on a band of catgut, to- 
gether with an endless band of gut, and the ends 
of the first-mentioned band brought together on a 
sealed card, as in the other string experiments. 
Presently a rattling was heard under the one- 
legged round table, while a smell of something 
burning was perceived. On examination the two 
wooden rings were found encircling the leg of the 
round table, where they could not have been 
placed by any man without first removing the top 
or the feet, and the endless gut band was twined 
and knotted with the looped gut string. The 



106 IREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

odor was explained by the spirits writing on the 
customary slate that they could not further tie 
the endless band without burning it through. A 
white spot was found upon it, and similar ones 
appeared when the gut was held in or near a 
flame. 

One other test deserves attention. Zollner had 
taken a round collar box and placed a coin therein. 
The box was then sealed up by pasting paper 
round the entire circumference, covering the junc- 
ture of the box and lid. In a little flat box he 
placed two pennies, and pasted it up in a similar 
manner. He did not look at the dates of these 
coins at all, and after awhile forgot the demomi- 
nation of the largest. During the progress of the 
various tests, the boxes were forgotten, and it was 
not until Slade returned to Leipsic, six months 
afterwards, that Zollner found them, and brought 
them to the room. By shaking the round box 
he became satisfied that it contained a silver piece, 
but that was all. The boxes were lying on the 
table in full view, when Slade declared he saw 
"funf, 1876/' No one could make out what this 




Plate 14. Table and Woodsn Rings. 



TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 109 

meant, till Slacle held a slate under the table, and 
with a clang the larger coin fell on the slate, when 
its denomination was seen by all to be filnf, or five, 
and its date 187G. On taking up the round box 
it was found to be empty, although the sealing was 
undisturbed. 

Presently writing was obtained on the slate 
held under the table upon which this time two 
bits of pencil had been placed. The writing was, 
"10 Pfennig, 1876," "2 Pfennig, 1875." In a 
few moments two distinct sounds were heard on 
the slate, and upon withdrawing it there were 
the two coins of the denominations and dates just 
written, which dates, remember, no one present 
ever had known. The little box was then picked 
up from the table; but to the surprise of all a 
rattlino- sound was heard when it was shaken. 
Slade asked his spirits what caused this sound, 
when the answer was written on the slate, " The 
pencils are in the box." Everyone had forgotten 
the two bits of pencil which had been laid on the 
slate at the beginning of the test, but on opening 
the small box there they were found, while- the 



110 . TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

seals showed no sign of rupture. These boxes 
and coins were photographed soon after. 

Before concluding this sketch, I will mention 
that Dr. Nicolaus Wagner, professor of zoology 
at St. Petersburg, has carefully related how he 
and some friends witnessed a successful experi- 
ment with a book-slate lined with sooted paper, 
and then bound and sealed. No regular medium 
was present at all, but only their own party. 
After the slates had been tied for some time, they 
were opened, and nothing found. They were then 
sealed the second time, and after a while, on open- 
ing, the print of a hand was found on one side, 
and the print of a foot on the other. The hand 
print was shown to an artist friend, and immedi- 
ately identified by him with that of a lady, w r ho 
had previously formed one of their number, but 
had died. It is not stated whether the artist was 
a Spiritualist or not. 

Some years ago the well-known Dr. Robert 
Hare was professor of chemistry at the Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania. Mr. S. A. Peters took to 
the laboratory two hermetically sealed glass tubes, 



TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. Ill 

and two small pieces of platinum. These were 
placed in a box, and the box laid upon the table in 
the presence of Dr. Hare and a medium. After 
some fifty minutes, the message came for Mr. Pe- 
ters to open the box. He accordingly broke the 
seals and found the bits of platinum within the 
glass tubes. 

A Dr. Nichols of London published, in 1878, 
that on April 7th of that year he carefully drew 
the ends of a strong cord through a hole in a 
card, and then sealed and stamped the whole. 
Immediately, in the presence of five persons, five 
knots were tied in the unbroken string. On the 
19th he declared that he joined hands with Mr. 
Eglinton, and in a second a bent- wood chair was 
placed so as to hang on his arm, with his arm 
passing through the back, while his grip on his 
friend's hand had not been parted for a moment. 

I have only mentioned these latter tests in 
order to show that a few other witnesses besides 
the German professor testify to equally mysteri- 
ous occurrences. 

Very recently Kellar, the famous prestidigitatev/r, 



112 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

V 

has written a remarkable article in one of the 
leading magazines, in which he describes some 
extraordinary feats of eastern jugglers, as wit- 
nessed by himself. He confesses his inability to 
account for them. On one occasion, in the pres- 
ence of the Prince of Wales and some fifty thous- 
and spectators, in Calcutta, in 1875, he saw a 
man laid on the points of three sharp swords, 
whose hilts were buried in the ground. He did 
not tip over, and the points of the swords did not 
penetrate his flesh. The old fakir then dug the 
soil away from and removed one sword, then the 
second, and the third, when the extended man lay 
as before, at the same height above the ground, 
and entirely unsupported. This was in broad 
daylight. Kellar afterwards satisfied himself of 
the sharpness of the swords. 

He declares that he saw a conjuror in Zululand 
wave a bunch of grass over the body of a young 
man whom he had caused to lie upon the ground, 
when the grass took fire, burned and crackled, 
while the form of the man rose from the ground, 
and followed the waving of the grass, and finally 



TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 113 

settled down again on the earth. A few passes 
from the hands of the conjuror, and the young 
Zulu leaped to his feet as if nothing had happened. 

Shortly after the Zollner sittings, Slade gave 
several seances in Bohemia at the house of a 
wealthy manufacturer named Schmid. From that 
place a report nearly as marvelous was given. 
There was a great amount of writing on slates 
which Slade had never seen before they were put 
in his hands. Two magnetic compasses were 
placed, one above the other, and Slade's hand 
passed over them. They were both affected, but 
oppositely, one turning one way, and the other in 
the reverse direction. Slade stood in the middle 
of the room, and Schmid and another near him. 
Schmid started to go into the next room when a 
large stone fell, as if from the air, on the floor at 
his feet with such violence as to make a hole in the 
floor; and immediately another fell in like manner. 

Later, at Berlin, a slate was written on in six 
different languages. It was found to be free from 
chemical preparations; Slade had never seen it be- 
fore the seance, and " there was not the smallest 



114 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

opportunity for effecting an exchange." Slade 
never touched it except to lay a bit of pencil be- 
tween, and two unbelievers held it in full light 
while the writing took place. 

On the other hand, when Slade appeared before 
the Henry Seybert Commission, at the University 
of Pennsylvania in 1885, he told those gentlemen 
that Zollner watched him closely during three or 
four sittings, but that after that he was allowed to 
do as he pleased. He told the commission that the 
spirits had forbidden him to use sealed slates any 
more. He showed the most barefaced assurance 
in attempting to palm off upon them the most ridi- 
culously simple tricks of sleight of hand. When 
asked about Kellar, the prestidigitateur, and his 
tricks of slate and table, he said Kellar is a power- 
ful medium. 

Rev. Howard Furness, one of the commis- 
sion, tells how he entertained Slade at his home 
on several occasions. He states that the last time 
he saw Slade he was in Boston. Dr. Furness in- 
quired, " Well, and how are the old spirits coming 
on?' Slade laughed, and replied, " Oh pshaw! 



TRANSCENDENTAL PHYSICS. 115 

You never believed in them, did you?" This was 
in April, 1887. 

The commission secured several sittings from 
Professor Kellar, the magician. It is the united 
testimony of those engaged that his results " far 
surpassed anything done by Slade." A perfectly 
clean slate was placed beneath the edge of the 
table, with a part of the slate in view, and held in 
that position by the fingers of Kellar's right hand, 
his thumb being on top of the table. The ob- 
servers watched most closely, and the thumb never 
moved, yet in a few minutes the slate was found 
covered with writing on both sides, and in seven 
languages. Kellar privately explained to one of 
the commission just how this was done. 

Professor George Fullerton reports, after a visit 
to Leipsic, that Professor Fechner was nearly 
blind, and believed the tests because of his faith 
in Zollner. Professor Scheiber also had defective 
vision, and was not satisfied in his own mind as to 
the accuracy of their observations, while Weber, 
now of advanced age, had not recognized the dis- 
abilities of his fellows. 



116 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

In concluding this chapter I refer to my own 
sittings with Slade, and the positive trickery he 
then offered as the work of spirits. Of course 
when such repeated evidence of fraud is brought 
forward against a medium, it is not possible to 
put faith in any reported manifestations in which 
he lias been engaged. John W. Truesdell, in his 
" Bottom Facts of Spiritualism," narrates his ex- 
periences with Slade, which serve to still further re- 
veal fraud and trickery. The scientific investigator 
desires to be open to the truth, but certainly this 
mine does not "pan out" enough to encourage fur- 
ther search. 




Plate 15. 



Chains <>f 1> vkknk- 




CHAPTER V. 

£be latest phenomena 



^l^jrJFTER some sixteen years have elapsed 

since the phenomena at Leipsic, the 

h ,3 scientific world is ao;ain startled by the 

Ti»:fi report of experiments conducted by 

'if . . 

eminent men, this time at Milan, Italy. 
The famous astromomer, Professor Schiapparelli, 
the discoverer of the canals on Mars, Professor 
Lombroso, of Turin, Professor Brofferio, who re- 
cently took the ten thousand franc prize for the 
best scientific article, Professor Pichet, and others 
formed the investigating committee. 

The sittings were held in Milan during Sep- 
tember, 1892. The medium is Eusapia Paladino, 
from Naples. She is married, and is of robust ap- 
pearance. Her husband is a carpenter, and she 
an ironer. She discovered her strange power 



120 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

when quite young, but took an aversion to it, and 
was only induced to give serious attention to the 
phenomena by the influence of Signor Ercolo 
Chiajia, a Neapolitan gentleman, distinguished by 
the king, and possessed of wealth. His avowed 
object was to bring her to the attention of scien- 
tific men. She never was accustomed to give 
public sittings. 

During the progress of the experiments an edi- 
tor offered to bet three thousand francs that he 
could explain all the tricks of the medium. To 
this she returned no answer, but Professor Aksa- 
kow, one of the committee, answered for her, and 
requested the editor "to show the truth of the mat- 
ter. The latter attempted to explain the effects 
produced by supposing the medium to shift her 
feet and hands in such a way as to fool the com- 
mittee, and his explanation was generally accepted 
by the public, while the committee went right on 
with the experiments. Let. it be noticed that the 
majority of the committee were not Spiritualists, 
and only Professor Schiapparelli had any theory 
in the case, his being derived from his old friend 



THE LATEST PHENOMENA. 121 

Zollner, the astronomer of Leipsic, with whom 
'we are already familiar. 

One day another editor happened to meet Eu- 
sapia in the street and asked her to walk home 
with him, as his wife wanted to see her. Eusapia 
went. At the editor's house the kitchen table 
was brought in, and the members of the family 
seated themselves about it. The table immedi- 
ately arose from the floor about six inches and re- 
mained suspended in the air for several seconds. 
It was about four o'clock in the afternoon, and 
the windows were open. Eusapia asked that they 
might be shut and this was done, but light re- 
mained sufficient to enable all to see. The usual 
phenomena occurred, moving of furniture, noises, 
appearance of hands, and so on. The editor next 
day took up the defense in his paper, pointing out 
the fact that all these things happened in a strange 
house, to which she had never been before, and 
where she certainly had no accomplice. Her 
coming was totally unexpected, and none of the 
party were Spiritualists. 

Although this editor was well known, public 



122 TREE OP KNOWLEDGE. 

opinion was against the whole thing, # and many 
pronounced it against the decorum of the city. 
The mayor attended one of the sittings, which 
were held at the house of Signor Finzi, in a palace 
on the Via Monte de Pieta. The mayor said he 
felt a large, damp, hairy hand pass over his face, 
which was certainly not the hand of Eusapia. 

Professor Schiapparelli was asked if he believed 
in the phenomena. His reply was, " How can I 
believe in a thing for which I can account in no 
way? I should define the phenomena as medium- 
istic, and I consider them of the greatest value to 
science." The committee reported partly as fol- 
lows: — 

"In consideration of the evidence given by Pro- 
fessor Cesare Lombroso regarding the medium- 
istic phenomena produced by means of ISignora 
Eusapia Paladino, the undersigned met her at 
Milan to hold with her a series of experiments 
for the purpose of verifying such phenomena, sub- 
mitting her to as rigorous observation as possible. 
We held in all seventeen sittings, which took 

* Slade was expelled from Vienna by the public and the police in 

1878. 



THE LATEST PHENOMENA. 123 

place in the house of Signor Finzi, Via Monte de 
Pieta, between the hours of nine and twelve in 
the evening." 

"The medium, who was invited to come to these 
sittings by Signor Aksakow, was presented by 
Cav. Chiajia, who was present at only a third of 
the sittings, and generally at the first and least 
important part of them." 

" On account of the agitation made by the press 
in announcing these sittings, and seeing the diverse 
opinions of the press concerning Signora Eusapia 
and Cav. Chiajia, it seems well to publish the 
following brief account of what we have seen and 
experienced." 

Some of the most interesting experiments were 
performed with an ordinary pine table about four 
feet long, and weighing twenty pounds. Among 
the several movements of the table by which an- 
swers to questions were given, it was impossible 
not to observe especially the motion made during 

the raps The medium sat with both sleevi - 

rolled up above her elbows, and held out both feet, 
beating them together, while the table stood on 



124 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

two legs and offered considerable resistance to an 
attempt to push it down. The table was connected 
with an apparatus for measuring the pressure. 
Then all hands were placed on the table in such a 
position that they could only push down, and the 
wish expressed that the pressure should decrease.. 
At once the dynamometer indicated some fifteen 
pounds decrease. Reversing the conditions and ar- 
ranging the hands so that they could only diminish 
the pressure, it increased about the same amount. 

Again the table was entirely lifted from the 
floor, while only one hand of the medium rested 
on it; and in this position it was photographed 
several times. One leg of the table always touched 
the dress of the medium, but that was " insufficient 
to account for the phenomenon." 

Similar to this was the "levitation" of the body 
of the medium. Being placed in a chair and sus- 
pended from a steelyard, her weight increased or 
diminished, as desired, to the extent of twenty- 
five to thirty-three pounds. When different mem- 
bers of the party attempted to force the scale to 
fluctuate beneath their weight they found it im- 



THE LATEST PHENOMENA. 125 

possible beyond a very slight degree, no matter 
how violent their efforts. On another occasion 
the steelyard beat up and down violently when 
the dress of the medium was allowed to touch it, 
she being seated in a chair upon the floor. Pro- 
fessor Brofferio got down and held the dress, satis- 
fying himself that there was no pressure communi- 
cated from it. 

A chair a few yards away, in the full light, 
suddenly approached Professor Schiapparelli. He 
arose and put it back, when it approached him 
again. 

Among the most important and significant facts 
they reckon the bodily elevation of the medium 
and her chair from the floor to the table, which 
took place upon September 28th and October 3d. 
The medium was seated at the end of the table, 
complaining loudly as if in pain, when she was 
lifted bodily upon the table with her chair, and 
placed in exactly the same position as before. 
During the whole of the time both her hands 
were held and accompanied by the hands of the 
gentlemen holding them. The chair was raised 



126 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

gently, and Sig. Richet and Professor Lombroso 
are sure they did not assist the lifting in the least. 
While others held her hands she was lifted down 
again and placed upon the floor. 

On two occasions Professor Schiapparelli had 
his spectacles taken off in the dark, an operation 
requiring some care in the light on account of the 
delicate fastenings which he used to hold them on. 
But so gently was it done that he had to feel to 
be sure that they were gone. At another time 
he was struck and pounded, and many times hands 
were felt by different members of the committee 
and repeatedly seen by them all. 

Schiapparelli was- a friend of Professor Zollner, 
and the committee did not fail to try some of the 
famous tests recorded in his book ; especially the 
wooden rings, the formation of a simple knot in an 
endless cord, # and the penetration of a solid object 
into a closed box But after repeated trials not 
one of these succeeded. 

In concluding their report the committee state 
that at times they were not sure that they retained 

* See pp. 97 and 107 




Plate 16. 



The Pit of Firk 



THE LATEST PHENOMENA. 129 

both hands of the medium, so that grave doubts 
as to the appearing hands and the touches felt by 
them were possible, but concerning many of the 
tests they seem to be unanimously of the opinion 
that there was no trickery. They say: — 

"In making public this" brief and incomplete 
account of our experiences, we must again express 
our convictions that, in the circumstances given, 
none of the manifestations obtained in a more or 
less intense light, could have been produced by 
any artifice whatever; that the same conviction 
can be affirmed with regard to the greater part of 
those taking place in the darkness. For the rest, 
we recognize that from a strictly scientific point 
of view our experiments still leave very much to 
be desired. Nevertheless, they prove enough in 
our eyes to show that these phenomena are well 
worth scientific attention." The report is signed 
by Giovanni Schiapparelli, director of the obser- 
vatory, Milan; Carl Du Prel, doctor of philoso- 
phy, Munich; Angelo Brofferio, professor of 
physics, Royal School of Agriculture; G. B. Er- 
macora, and Georgio Finzi, Ph. D. There were 



130 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

present sometimes Charles Richet, editor of the 
Revue Scientifique and Cesare Lombroso, M. D., 
of Turin. 

Having frankly stated this on its merits, I now 
again call attention to the fact of the thorough in- 
vestigation made in Philadelphia by the famous 
Seybert commission, a full report of which has 
been long published. This commission managed 
to bring before them the famous Dr. Slade very 
near the time of his sittings with the writer, as 
recorded in a previous chapter. In every respect 
he failed to do for them anything more than he 
did for me, and they detected him again in the 
most glaring frauds and tricks. Dr. Slade has 
been exposed again and again. He has passed 
the night with an investigator and been detected 
in a series of wild attempts to produce an impres- 
sion of the supernatural upon his bedfellow. In 
all the years since the Zollner seances he has ut- 
terly failed to reproduce the famous tests recorded 
in that scientist's writings, and moreover, the most 
serious doubts as to Zollner's sanity are forced 
upon the investigator who follows the Seybert 



THE LATEST PHENOMENA. 131 

commission in their labors, and reads the report of 
Professor George Fullerton. All three of the 
surviving professors agreed that Zollner had a 
special theory of a fourth dimension which he was 
laboring to prove, and that his insanity, which de- 
veloped later, was then really beginning, or prob- 
ably so. Professor Fullerton questioned them 
carefully, but positively obtained nothing upon 
which to build up any real faith in the remarkable 
book of Professor Zollner. 

Putting all these things together, it will be seen 
that unless the Milan performances stand the test 
of careful investigation better than those of Leip- 
sic, there has really been nothing of any moment 
yet proven to show that spirits of any kind are 
able to produce important effects of the nature de- 
scribed and generally attempted by mediums. Of 
course, reports abound, like those of Colonel Olcott, 
who calmly relates how lie held an egg in his hand, 
under a piano, and the lady of the house placing 
her hand beneath his, the whole side of the heavy 
piano rose in the air, supported upon the fragile 
egg. Thousands of such statements can be had 



132 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

for the asking; but the main point stands, — that 
not one of them has ever stood the test of calm, 
scientific investigation by those who had no axe to 
grind in the matter. All fade away, or at least 
become very hazy when closely examined. Trick 
seems to be ingrained in the whole thing from 
centre to circumference, and the wonder is that so 
many are fooled by the impositions. 

^Even the jugglers themselves seem to be any- 
thing but bomb-proof against the deceits of the 
mediums. The court juggler in Zollner' s book is 
an example. Professor Fullerton, of the Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania, in a letter to the writer, says 
that he did not see that gentleman while in Berlin, 
but adds: " Their testimony [jugglers] I regard as 
better than that of other people, but, of course, 
not as infallible. In two or three instances I have 
been rather surprised to find them inclined to as- 
cribe to occult powers anything they were them- 
selves unable to do. Possibly you have had the 
same experience." 

Professor Zollner relates how Slade refused cer- 
tain conditions suggested by some investigators, 



THE LATEST PHENOMENA. . 133 

saying: " I claim to be honest and as earnest in 
this matter as those who call upon me for the 
purpose of investigation. Therefore I shall continue 
to object to all such worthless appliances whenever 
they are proposed." In the light of such exposures 
of his "honesty" as those given in this book, and 
in the admirable and amusing little work called 
" Bottom Facts of Spiritualism," such language by 
the redoubtable doctor cannot but excite a smile. 
The words of Joel Tiffany may be repeated here: 
" I want to call your attention to the universal 
fact that,when a medium devoted to external mani- 
festations is under the control of his presiding 
spirit, he is under an influence to deceive, to cheat, 
that is well-nigh irresistible." It may be that 
Professor Zollner in his haste to prove his pet 
theory, passed under the same kind of influence 
which the rest of us have found to be so strong in 
Dr. Slade. I merely offer this as a possible means 
of accounting for the extraordinary statements in 
his famous book, which if really true as recorded, 
would settle the matter of supernatural interference 
beyond question. To refer to Tiffany again, the 



134 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

breath seems to acquire the "odor of the onion- 
stalk through which it passes." 

I think that the majority of sober thinkers who 
read the presentation I have given of both sides 
of this case will agree with me that the most 
favorable verdict possible so far for the claims of 
the Spiritists is the famous Scotch "not proven." 







CHAPTER VI. 

Spiritism— 3t6 3nner fl^steries* 

OTWITHSTANDING all the frauds 
described in the foregoing chapter, 
| there is very much more reality in 
^>y Spiritism than most outsiders believe. 
I am now about to speak in the plain- 
est language of the deep iniquities of the thing, 
and to endeavor to sound a note of warning that 
may reach and save many from its appalling in- 
fluence. These inner mysteries are as really true 
as the tricks and outer frauds with which the 
average person is fairly well acquainted. But the 
"mysteries" are not revealed in the first instance 
to the inquirer; they are held back until the 
neophyte has advanced to the proper state of mind 
for their reception. 



136 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Possession by spirits, or the residence in the 
human and animal body of beings of another order 
is true, if the Bible is true. The serpent in Eden 
possessed by Satan himself, was a tremendous fact, 
although the devil has labored most diligently to 
persuade men to disbelieve that story. Later, just 
before the flood, the fallen angels (called " sons of 
God " in the English version) took possession of 
the women of the time so thoroughly as to cause 
them to bear giant offspring, whose mighty sins 
were the crowning manifestation of evil in that 
wicked age. In the time of Moses the magicians 
of Egypt, headed by Jannes and Jambres, per- 
formed their miracles, even producing frogs and 
blood, as Moses did. It will not do for the reader 
to hastily conclude that they merely practiced 
sleight of hand, for the record distinctly says that 
"they did so with their enchantments." When 
the miracle of the lice was reached they were un- 
able to reproduce it, or any subsequent miracle 
that Moses wrought at God's bidding. That they 
did possess some supernatural power is plain if the 
Scriptures are true. Still later we read of the Witch 




Plate 17. 



The Messenger oi Evil. 



SPIRITISM ITS INNER MYSTERIES. 139 

of Endor who " had a familiar spirit." Passing 
over into the New Testament we find the record 
of Simon the sorcerer, and of Elymas, and the 
distinct declaration that the oracular maid of 
Philippi was " possessed by a spirit of Python." 
(See margin. Python was the Old Serpent, and 
we see here the plainest statement of spirit con- 
trol.) Acts xvi. 16. 

Only a moment is necessary in which to prove- 
that these spirits were not the souls of departed 
human beings. David said, when his baby died, 
" I shall go to hirn, but he shall not return to me." 
The parable of Lazarus and Dives plainly declares 
that " there is a great gulf fixed" so that none can 
pass either way. # If Jesus Christ is final author- 
ity on this point, then the last reference settles 
the question. The real truth is that the delusion 
of the Spiritists, that the departed friends revisit 
them, is specially of the devil. And in the en- 
deavor to throw men off the right track, he dili- 
gently strives to make them believe that the spirits 

* For the scientific law involved in the "great gulf," see " Alpha 
and Omega " in the chapter on "The Science of Sheol." 



140 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

are anything but what they are, viz., the demons 
that wait on his bidding. It is the fashion now to 
disbelieve in a personal devil. But take care! As 
sure as you live, the next step is to doubt the ex- 
istence of a personal God. The Bible is not one 
whit plainer on the personality of the one than 
the other. Look and see. 

Men don't believe in a devil now, 

As their fathers used to do; 
They've forced the door of the broadest creed 

To let his majesty through. 
There isn't a print of his cloven foot, 

Or a fiery dart from his bow 
To be found in earth or air to-day, 

For the world has voted so. 

But who is mixing the fatal draught 

That palsies heart and brain, 
And loads the bier of each passing year 

With ten hundred thousand slain ? 
Who blights the bloom of the land to-day 

With the fiery breath of -hell, 
If the devil isn't, and never was, 

Won't somebody rise and tell ? 

Who dogs the steps of the toiling saint, 

And digs the pit for his feet ? 
Who sows the tares in the fields of time 

W r herever God sows His wheat? 



SPIRITISM ITS INNER MYSTERIES. 141 

The devil is voted not to be, 

And of course the thing is true; 
But who is doing the kind of work 

The devil alone should do? 

We are told he does not go about 

Like a roaring lion now ; 
But whom shall we hold responsible 

For the everlasting row 
To be heard in home, in church, in state, 

To the earth's remotest bound, 
If the devil, by a unanimous vote, 

Is nowhere to be found ? 

Won't somebody step to. the front forthwith, 

And make his bow, and show 
How the frauds and crimes of a single day 

Spring up ? We want to know ; 
The devil was fairly voted out, 

And of course the devil's gone, 
But simple people would like to know 

Who carries his business on? 

There is a devil, and there are demons, or the 
word of the Lord is of no possible account, for it 
does not mean what it says. And the special dan- 
ger of the age is that the disguised modern " de- 
mon " be taken for what he purports to be — "an 
angel of light," 

Are you aware that the seven nations of Ca- 



142 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

naan were Spiritists of the most pronounced type ? 
No. A great many readers of the Bible are 
totally ignorant of this fact; and of course they 
do not know that God ordered their extermina- 
tion for this very reason; but it is the exact truth. 
Read the record : — 

" When thou art come into the land .... 
there shall not be found among you anyone that 
maketh his son or daughter to pass through the 
fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of 
times [look out here for modem astr oh gists'], or an 
enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter 
with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necroman- 
cer. For all that do these things are an abomi- 
nation unto the Lord; and, because of these 
abominations, the Lord thy God doth drive them 
out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with 
the Lord thy God. For these nations which 
thou shalt possess hearkened to observers of 
times, and unto diviners, but as for thee, the 
Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do." 
Deuteronomy, xviii. 9-14. 

In another place, it is expressly stated that the 



SPIRITISM--- ITS INNER MYSTERIES. 143 

Canaanites "sacrificed unto demons." So this 
matter is placed beyond dispute, unless we object 
to the Bible. 

Paul told the men of Athens that they were, 
" too much given to the worship of demons." 
Acts xvii. 22. This is the correct rendering ac- 
cording to Newton, Clark, Campbell, Wesley, and 
Doddridge, besides the Syriac and the Diaglott. 
He also told the Corinthians that all heathen 
worship was the worship of demons. " I say unto 
you, that the things that the Gentiles sacrifice, 
they sacrifice unto demons, and not to God." 
I. Corinthians, xix. 21. And looking down tin 1 
ages, he warns the church to beware lest anyone 
" beguile you into a voluntary humility [the laying 
down of the will, as is cardinally insisted upon in 
becoming a mediuni] and worshipping of demons 
[angels may be either good or bad; the word has no 
intrinsic good], intruding into those things that lie 
hath not seen, vainly puffed up in his fleshly mind." 
Colossians ii. 18. 

That Satan specially desires to be worshipped 
is proved by his final temptation to Jesus: "All 



144 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down 
and worship me." To be in the place of God is 
his crowning ambition, and the very thing that 
his last great incarnation of evil, the " Man of 
Sin," will also essay to do. And that Spiritism is 
closely akin to these manifestations of the devil- 
ish is plain from the prayers offered to Satan him- 
self. At San Jose, California, in January, 1874, 
Professor Chaney, in the opening of a debate with 
Elder Grant, publicly delivered the following 
prayer to Satan : — 

\" O, Devil, prince of demons in the Christian 
hell! 0, thou monarch of the bottomless pit! 
thou king of scorpions having stings in their tails, 
to whom it is given to hurt the earth for five 
months, I beseech thee to hear my prayer. Thou 
seest the terrible strait in which I am placed, 
matched in debate with one of the big guns of 
Christianity. Remember, O prince of brim- 
stone, that when thou stretchest out thine arm, 
the Christian's God cannot stand before thee 
for a moment. Therefore, we beseech thee to 
stand by us on this occasion. Bless thy servant 



SPIRITISM ITS INNER MYSTERIES. 145 

in his labors before thee. Fill his mouth with 
words of wisdom. Enable him to defend thee 
from the false charges about to be made against 
thy Sulphurous Majesty, and triumph by truth 
and logic over his opponent, so that this audience 
may realize that thou art a prayer-hearing and a 
prayer-answering devil." 

Lizzie Doten, in the Spiritist paper, the Banner 
of Light, prays as follows: " O, Lucifer! thou 
son of the morning, who fell from thy high es- 
tate, and whom mortals are prone to call the em- 
bodiment of evil, we lift our voices to thee. From 
the depths of thine infamy streams forth divine 
truth. As thou hast been the star of the morn- 
ing, thou wilt again become an angel of light." Is 
II. Corinthians xi. 13, a .special prediction of this 
devilment? There Paul wrote: "For Satan 
himself is transformed into an anofel of li^lit." 

Still another, in the same journal, prayed: "O, 
thou prince of darkness and king of light; we ask 
and demand that we may know thee, for to know 
thee is to know more of ourselves. | What uncon- 
scious truth that is!"] The church and the world 



146 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

tell us that the devil goeth about as a roaring 
lion, seeking whom he may devour; but we know 
thee as God's vicegerent, to stand at his left hand, 
the regenerator of mankind, the means of bringing 
up all things, intellectually and morally, to perfec- 
tion." For much more on this subject I refer the 
reader to a book called " Demonology," by E. F. 
Hanson, Belfast, Maine. 

To the Christian in search of evidence as to the 
reality of Spiritism, I say, read'your Bible. Turn 
to II. Kings xix., and read, of Mannasseh and his 
iniquities in this line. These declarations of the 
Scripture are not foolishness. God never pronounced 
such awful sentence upon a man for a mere idiotic 
superstition. Our wholesale rejection of these 
things puts our God in the position of one who 
furiously punishes people for thinking that the 
moon is made of green cheese. Is it not perfectly 
plain that God never issued such thunderous 
declarations against a mere folly and sham, with 
nothing real about it ? This ought to be final 
for the Christian. Bead of Ahab's lying prophet 
in Kings and Chronicles, twice related in all its 













Plate 18. 



Drawing Nearer 



SPIRITISM ITS INNER MYSTERIES. 149 

detail. # A dramatic picture, truly, fit to rank with' 
that wonderful sixteenth chapter of Numbers. 

The great God, seated on his throne, his angels 
about him, and "all the host of heaven" standino- 
near. This last expression is, I think, always 
used in the Old Testament of the demon hosts. 
God calls for a volunteer to deceive Ahab, that he 
may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead. Forth 
from the evil throng steps a spirit, saying, " I will 
go." And the question is asked, " How? " To 
which the spirit replies, " I will be a lying spirit 
in the mouths of his prophets." " Go," answers 
the Almighty, "and you shall succeed." 

/Certainly this is an extraordinary narration, and 
it cannot possibly be eliminated from the record. 
God has seen to it that it is told twice over in 
every word and detail in two different books. It 
is there, and it means exactly what it says. The 
evil spirits, always ready to do evil, as in the case 
of Job, receive permission to practice their deviltry. 
God does not directly send; he " shaves with a razor 
that is hired." t It plainly declares that these evil 

*I. Kimjrs xxii; II. Chronicles xviiL t Isaiah vii. 'JO. 



150 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

spirits [not dead people) can thus enter into evil 
men, and cause them to speak words of false im- 
port, calculated to deceive. God's justice sees to 
it that the real prophet appears, and warns Ahab 
of the danger, but he willfully turns away, and is 
destroyed. 

Isaiah speaks of the people who seek unto 
" spirits that peep and mutter," and warns against 
the " living seeking to the dead." # Jeremiah writes 
in similar terms; and everywhere we read of 
" familiar spirits." Daniel read the writing on 
the wall, which was unintelligible to the master 
Spiritists of the time. They could read the writ- 
ing of their master, but not of Daniel's God. The 
true religion stopped their mouths and destroyed 
their power, just as it has always done. True, 
indeed, is the admission of their own waiters, 
already quoted, that Christianity has always been 
the foe of Spiritism. The two are exact opposites. 
One goeth up and the other down. Arid one is as 
really a fact as the other. Do not forget that. 

All Christians believe the accounts of spirit 

*viii. 19. 



SPIRITISM ITS INNER MYSTERIES. 151 

" possession " recorded in the New Testament. 
Spiritists have sought to prove the reappearance 
of friends from these cases. But they forget that 
the Jews always considered those persons to be 
under the power of demons. Tertullian challenges 
the enemy to admit that the Christians forced the 
oracles to confess that they were under the devil's 
influence. In modern times, such able medical 
authorities as Forbes Winslow, of England, de- 
clare that the demoniac is readily distinguished 
from the ordinary lunatic by a " strange duality," 
which the expert soon learns to recognize. They 
always consider such cases the most incurable. 
The boy at the foot of the mount (Mark ix. 26) 
is no more distinctly branded with the demon 
power than a host of modern cases, a few of which 
I have met with. 

The Gadarene swine offer a singular illustration 
of this possession. A " legion " was about six 
thousand. All these demons had been abiding in 
one poor wretch of a man, but when distributed 
among two thousand swine the whole herd at once 
committed suicide. It appears that three demons 



152 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

was more than any hog would stand, while one 
man had lived with six thousand. Certainly fallen 
man is worse than any brute. 

Recent cases of spirit possession can be given 
by the score. I refer to the New Year's number 
(1892) of The Review of Reviews for a very large col- 
lection of facts on this point. Another case I will 
give in some detail. A. few years ago, in a New 
England town, lived a family of Spiritists, among 
whom was a young girl who greatly desired to be 
a Christian. After a while she became "pos- 
sessed," and manifested all the strange and terrible 
symptoms described in the Bible. She would be 
suddenly thrown on the floor in the most frantic 
convulsions, exposing herself unless forcibly held 
down, and speaking profane and horribly obscene 
words in a strong voice, not at all her own. A 
dear friend of mine # — : an old man simple and true 
in his faith, was called in to pray over her, the 
doctors all declaring that they could do nothing at 
all. He began to command the spirits to come 
out of her, in the name of Jesus Christ. The 

* Ethan Allen, of Springfield, Mass. 



SPIRITISM ITS INNER MYSTERIES. 153 

voice would answer him, and strive to engage him 
in argument ; but he kept steadily on, and refused 
any sort of compromise, (in the midst of the most 
frightful language he would command the demons, 
in Jesus' name, to hold their tongues ; and they 
would be forced to obeyy} After a time the par- 
oxysm would pass, and the girl become as rational 
as ever, and have no knowledge of what she had 
uttered. This state of things continued for several 
weeks, towards the close of which the voice per- 
ceptibly weakened, and the demon complained that 
four of his brothers had left him, and that he 
would have to go out very soon. In a whining, 
whimpering voice he said, " I suppose I will have 
to go out. I wouldn't do it if I did not have to." 
When my friend mentioned the name of Jesus, her 
face would be twisted into the most horrible ap- 
pearance, and the voice cried out, " Jesus ! (I hate 
Jesus. You love him and He loves you ; but I 
hate him." Finally she was delivered, and at last 
accounts was married and living happily with her 
family. I could give others just as marked. 
These things are not trumpeted abroad. The 



151 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

families of people so affected are not likely to 
court newspaper interviews, but strive to bury 
the thing out of sight and knowledge. But those 
who have been on the inside know that these 
things are true. 

When the Apostle declared that "\We wrestle 
not against flesh and blood, but against spirits of 
wickedness in the heavenlies," Ephesians vi. 12, he 
meant exactly what he said. It was no figure of 
speech. It is the purpose of this little book to 
sound a warning cry in these " last days " to arouse 
the people of God to a knowledge of the real nature 
of our adversaries. If the Scripture be true we 
are standing on 'the eve of the greatest iniquity the 
world has ever known, and at such a time, to depre- 
ciate the power of the enemy is worse than foolish ; it 
is suicidaLY 

This state of things is most distinctly foretold 
in the Word. '|The Spirit speaketh expressly, 
that in the latter times some shall depart from the 
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines 
of demons; forbidding to marry," etc. I. Timothy 
iv. In Revelation xvi. 13, 14, we read of the 



SPIRITISM ITS INNER MYSTERIES. 155 

" three unclean spirits, like frogs," which are " the 
spirits of demons, working miracles," etc. And 
Paul speaks to Timothy of the men who "creep 
into houses and lead captive silly women, laden 
with sins, led away with divers lusts ; ever learn- 
ing and never able to come to the knowledge of 
the truths II. Timothy iii. 6. 

These passages are closely descriptive of the 
peculiar heresies of this day, when so much is said 
of " deep things " and " higher knowledge." The 
women are strangely prominent in all these 
esoteric theories and teachings, and are plainly 
exemplifying the words of the Apostle just 
quoted. The sex question is wonderfully mixed 
up in the Spiritisms of the time, and it means 
much more than most people are aware. Dr. 
Cyrus Teed, of Cincinnati, Prince Michael, of 
Detroit, Schwinefurth, of Rock ford, Illinois, and 
many others of the false Christs and eccentric 
" Esoterics " and " Theosophs " arc fair examples 
of the fulfillment of these scriptures. All "lead 
captive silly women"; and with most of them as 
with the "Agapemoncy' and with "King Solo- 



156 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

mon," " nee John Wood," in England, the gravest 
charges ' of positive immorality have been freely 
made, with much color of truth in the evidence 
adduced. If Revelations ix. 20 be true for the 
latter times, men are to " worship demons " even 
in the closing days of this age, after all the boasted 
progress of nineteen centuries. \Certain it is that 
the deepest iniquity of to-day lies along the line of 
strange abuses of the sex principle in connection with 
the spirit world. 

In Mr. Stead's article, to which I have already 
freely alluded, he sums up what he calls " The 
seamy side of Spiritualism " in these words: " The 
phenomena of trance which are to be witnessed at 
the seance, when the medium professes to be taken 
possession of by any intelligence, are not such as 
to commend them to any prudent man or woman 
who has any respect for their individuality. 
When in the trance, as it is technically called, 
women who cannot bear the smell of tobacco will 
smoke a pipe as easily as the most inveterate 
smoker, and teetotallers will drink whisky as 
eagerly as habitual drunkards. In automatic 




\$*&r 



Plate 19. 



The Ckeation of H\ k. 



SPIRITISM ITS INNER MYSTERIES. 159 

writing, which is one of the simplest forms of 
spiritualist manifestations, it is on record that 
young girls of unimpeachable character have been 
made the agent for producing writing, and draw- 
ing pictures, the very nature of which they were 
fortunately unable to understand. There is no 
necessity for going further into this subject beyond 
a general statement that at some seances, whether 
through self-hypnotism, or through the presence 
of invisible agencies, sitters have had experiences 
which may have been purely subjective, and have 
had no objective reality, but which are none the 
less degrading and abominable. To expose your- 
self to all the chances of such things may be justi- 
fiable, if out of the midst of all these temptations 
and suggestions to mental and moral disease you 
have a tolerable certainty of being able to gain 
some counterbalancing advantage. But, so far as 
I see, the chances for the ordinary man and 
woman are too slender. [This tree of the knowledge 
of good and evil seems to hear somuch more evil than 
good thai Eve had better stay her AandH* 

* Italics mine. — 11. A*. C. 



160 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

What stronger proof could possibly be found of 
the damning power of this sin than that in the 
statement recently made in an English journal, 
Prophetic N&ws and Israel's Watchman, of the 
conversion to Spiritism of no less a personage 
than Mr. Stead himself. After reading the last 
paragraph such a thing seems impossible, but here 
is the statement from that journal, March, 1893. 
It is headed, " Mr. Stead Turned Spiritualist." 

" Mr. W. T. Stead, who has obtained great no- 
toriety as a writer and speaker during the past few 
years, was publicly withstood in February, last 
year (1892), at a meeting at Cardiff, by Alderman 
Richard Cory, J. P. f who denounced Mr. Stead's 
strange, novel, and unorthodox teachings as sub- 
versive of the Gospel. This was related in the 
Christian Herald of February 25, 1892. Mr. 
Cory's penetration of Mr. Stead's heresies has 
been since abundantly justified by Mr. Stead's 
open advocacy of Spiritualism, and avowal of him- 
self as a spiritualistic medium controlled by a 
familiar spirit whom he calls ' Julia.' Mr. Stead 
announces as a new and marvelous discovery that 



SPIRITISM ITS INNER MYSTERIES. 161 

if he places his right hand and arm motionless on 
the table, an invisible spirit assumes control of it 
and writes communications from the spirit world 
in a totally different handwriting from his own or- 
dinary caligraphy. But, so far from being new, it 
has been done every day for more than forty 
years in America by writing mediums, who are as 
plentiful as blackberries there since Spiritualism 
first appeared in the Fox family in 1848, 1849. Dr. 
Nichols, the discoverer of the Food of Health, 
gave a fair and candid description of American 
Spiritualism in his ' Forty Years in America,' 
and we have quoted it on a subsequent page, as 
well as another writer's ' Strange Confessions of a 
Spiritualist.' Spiritualism is simply a modern re- 
vival of the ancient sorcery and witchcraft and 
dealing with familiar spirits, denounced in the 
Bible, and foretold to be revived in these latter 
times under the sixth vial in Revelation xvi. 
13, 14, and II. Timothy hi." 

After all Mr. Stead has written, after all his in- 
vestigations, and his former conclusions as to fraud 
and evil in the matter, this conversion seems 



162 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

most unaccountable. Truly, it serves to fearfully 
emphasize his words of warning just quoted on a 
previous page. So incredible did it appear to me, 
that I at once wrote to him direct, telling him of 
my intention of issuing a book on this subject, 
and asking him if this statement is true, as I did 
not wish to misrepresent him or any man. But 
no reply has reached me. I give it, therefore, on 
the authority of the journal mentioned, still 
hoping that it may be corrected in the future, or, 
at least, that the departure from the right path 
may not be so bad as reported. 

A writer in the North China Herald tells of a 
visit paid to the poet Tennyson a few years ago. 
Lord Tennyson told of something that had hap- 
pened in the room in which they were seated. 
" You see that table," he said, pointing to a huge, 
massive piece of furniture in the corner. Then he 
went on to tell how one night a trial was made at 
table turning, with the result that that very table 
raced about, and spun and turned and twisted and 
capered to such an extent that even those accus- 
tomed to such proceedings felt a certain conster- 



SPIRITISM — ITS INNER MYSTERIEJ3. 163 

nation. Suddenly the thing stopped dead. The 
moment before Bishop Wilber force had entered 
the room and mentally exclaimed, "(in the name 
of God the Father, God the Son, and God the 
Holy Ghost, I adjure thee to be still?N The table 
never danced in the Bishop's presence again. 

In this connection I feel bound to relate a some- 
what similar experience of my own. I had given 
.several lectures in the city of San Francisco, in 
the year 1892, among them two upon Spiritualism. 
At the close of one of them I was approached by 
a little lady who desired me to call at her house, 
stating that certain manifestations had been oc- 
curring there, from which she had derived'some 
revenue, but about which she was now concerned. 
She said she was not a Spiritualist, and desired to 
know the truth. Taking a gentleman with me, I 
called upon her, and was received by herself and 
husband. A small table was produced and she 
proceeded to ask aloud if "they" would write and 
answer questions. Holding a pencil loosely in her 
hand the point described trembling and scrawling 
lines upon a sheet of paper which could be re- 



164 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

solved into words with a little care. In this way 
she got answers. Putting her hands on the table 
it would tip three times to signify yes, and twice 
for no. With her husband's hands also upon it> 
the table behaved in the same way. I specially 
noticed that the motions of the table did not fol- 
low her fingers, but the fingers seemed to follow 
the table. . I mean by this that when a person 
rests the tips of the fingers upon a table and en- 
deavors to cause the same to tip or rock, the fin- 
gers will be seen to move forward slightly first 
and then the table moves. But in this case there 
was no such motion visible. I am perfectly fa- 
miliar with the possible methods of invisible black 
threads attached to the table, as well as with the 
use of finger rings with sharp projecting points or 
claws. Neither of these were used. She pro- 
tested that she did not will to move the table at 
all, and that she was not conscious of the least ef- 
fort to do so. 

The phenomenon, however, was so insignificant, 
and so many requests for variations failed to bring 
forth anything, that I could not feel very much 



SPIRITISM — ITS l^SEU MYSTERIES. 165 

impressed. I then placed my hands on the table 
with the lady, mentally commanding any possible 
" spirits " in the name of Jesus Christ to let it 
alone. She asked for many things, but except a 
slight struggling effort, no motion whatever oc- 
curred. She reproached the "spirits," and accused 
them of promising a good sitting and then going 
back on the promise, but all to no effect. Taking 
up her pencil she asked for reasons for this action. 
Presently the scrawling writing replied: "I am 
afraid." On getting this she eagerly pressed for 
an explanation, and asked of what or of whom 
they were afraid. The answer was written: 
"Seen cloud over man." 

This was all that occurred, and I was compelled 
to tell her that while I regarded the tests as ex- 
tremely inconclusive, yet whatever might be of a 
supernatural character, if any of it, must certainly 
be set down as evil, and only evil. She seemed 
impressed, and promised to abandon the practice. 
/ What looked strange to her was that these 
1 "spirits" had told her to go to a religious meet- 
ing and try to save souls, and that she had b 



166 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE 

enabled to pay off. her husband's debts from the 
money paid her by persons desiring sittings. She 
could not see how evil spirits could advise good 
actions or do any good. 

I said : " Did you ever go a-fishing ?" 

" Oh, yes, often." 

" Did you fish with bait, or did you use a bare 

hook r 

" I fished with bait, of course/' 

" Was the bait something through which the 
fish could see the hook, something they did not 
like, or was it what they specially preferred ?" 

" Of course it was something they liked." 

"Well, do you not see that if you are to be 
caught by the hook of Spiritism, the bait must be 
something that attracts you V 

She said she saw the fitness of the comparisons, 
and was no longer surprised at the .course taken 
by her mysterious visitors 

A most remarkable book, called the " Powers 
of the Air," has lately been published by a man 
who had been and now is a Christian, but who fell 
under the influence of Spiritism and became a 



SPIRITISM — ITS INNER MYSTERIES 1(57 

medium of very high development. I make a 
few extracts from this book. 

The voice said to him that he (the voice) was 
God himself, and that the medium had been chosen 
as a very special agent in the salvation of the race. 
He was promised that on a certain day the great- 
est revival ever known should break out, and 
many of his friends be converted. This prediction 
and several others failed, when the voice explained 
that evil men interfered. After a number of false 
predictions, including one that sent the man to 
New York on a wild-goose chase, he was con- 
vinced that the whole thing was a delusion. He 
then questioned the spirits at length as to their 
motives for such actions, and received some very 
extraordinary answers. They .said: — 

"You were forced into the belief that Spiritualism 
is but the harbinger of the millennial glory by the 
first communications. They were certainly grand, 
and were given you with the express intention of 
leading you to believe they were from Jesus ( Ihrist 
and God himself. You ought to have suspected 
this. All hooks are baited with a very gilded bait." 



168 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Question: "Are not the doctrines taught gener- 
ally by the Spiritualists denominated in Scripture 
the doctrines of devils or demons V 

Answer: "Yes; they are in very deed the doc- 
trines of demons, because they generally reject 
the teaching of Jesus Christ and his apostles and 
followers. A. J. Davis was inspired to my cer- 
tain knowledge by the prince of demons, or, in 
other words, the most intellectual demon belong- 
ing to the powers of the air/ His ' Harmonial 
Philosophy' was all written under inspiration of 
demon influence. (There is no Jesus Christ, nor 
any doctrine taught by Jesus Christ in his works; 
they are all Christless or Anti-Chrisfr\ .... 
Spiritualism was conceived in sin and brought 
forth in iniquity. It is a dead carcass, a carcass 
that will be a stench to the good of the whole 
earth." 

Q. " But do you not expect it to be better?' 

A. "Never. We are the debris of God's moral 
creation, cast off as far as we know, only to be de- 
stroyed." 

Q. "But do not the pious dead surround those 



SPIRITISM ITS INNER MYSTERIES. L69 

who are still in the body, as guardians from the 
evil influence?" 

A. "They are never seen by us if they do. We 
see nothing around the pious any more than around 
the wicked. But we are often around them our- 
selves, infusing into their minds some infidel or 
atheistic thought, to see how they will receive it. 
We take delight in disturbing and irritating them, 
just as we do you/' 

Q. "Do you not think that good spirits develop 
mediums, and communicate through them as you 
do?" 

A. "I think not. We think we are warranted 
in the conclusion that no pious dead, nor the 
spirits of just men made perfect, nor angels, have 
anything to do with controlling mediums at the 
present day." 

*■ These spirit manifestations are clearly pro- 
phesied of by the apostle Paul in II. Thessalloni- 
ans: 'And then shall that wicked be revealed, 
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of 
his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness 
of his coining; even him whose coming is after the 



170 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

working of Satan, with all power and signs and 
lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of un- 
righteousness in them that perish; because they 
received not the love of the truth, that they might 
be saved. And for this cause God shall send them 
strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; 
that they might be damned who believed not the 
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.' This 
passage sets forth the signs of these times so clearly 
that all the righteous or pious can understand." 

"We have been provoked to reveal to you the 
fact that all the revelations through mediums, to 
the effect that all men are progressing to a state 
of holiness and happiness are false, totally and ab- 
solutely false. # We have as good an opportunity 
to know the facts connected with all the modern 
revelations as any spirit can know in the world, 
and we certainly know they are not from God, 
hut from spirits, some of them guilty of greater 
abuses, if it were possible, than we have inflicted 
upon you." 

' 'You ask how we know that modern spiritual- 

* The optimists who eloquently preach of how the world is getting 
better, should make a note of this. — JR. K. C. 




Plate 20. 



Innocence. 



SPIRITISM ITS INNER MYSTERIES. 173 

istic demonstrations are not from God? We an- 
swer that they are made by spirits who hate God, 
and have no fellowship with that which is good. 
(They universally reject the Bible as the Word of 
God, denouncing it as false and unworthy of be- 
lief.] All the revelations yet made by spirit mani- 
festations have not so much of the Gospel truth in 
them as has yet resulted in the regeneration of 
one soul, in the sense that Jesus Christ taught re- 
generation. The revelations of these spirits are 
just what you might expect from beings who have 
not the love of God in them." 

This gentleman, who had also been used as a 
medium, also asked the question: "To what extent 
have the powers of the air dominion and rule over 
the children of men?" 

A. " They have the power to produce lifelike 
images in the minds of irrepressible mediums. 
This is often understood by them to be an actual 
sight of a real object. This leads to a gic.it 
variety of delusions. Those who are called the 
leaders of Spiritualism, and who know the fallacy 
of these impressions, allow the deception to go 



174 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

on, and are therefore participators in the swindle. 
This stamps them with infamy. The spirits have 
the power of using the human body with all its or- 
gans and faculties* This is done in the case of 
trance speakers and personating mediums. They 
enter the body by means of electrical and galvanic 
influences, and having entered, use the vocal organs. 
They also possess the power to move ponderable 
objects, such as chairs and tables. This is gener- 
ally accomplished by the agency of scores and hun- 
dreds of the invisible workers." 

The author says : " They could imitate the 
manner of speech peculiar to my relatives and ac- 
quaintances, and so exactly did they give the in- 
flections and intonations of their voices that I 
would have been compelled to believe the imita- 
tions to be real had they not personified some 
whom I knew to be living. " 

.o 

" That the reader may be fortified at every 
point, and never be drawn into the belief that any 
communication from the spirit world can in any 
sense be from God (though it breathes the very 

* Italics mine. — R. K. C. 



SPIRITISM ITS INNER MYSTERIES. 175 

spirit of heaven itself, and be characterized by- 
lofty sentiment, and the most elegant phraseology, 
and classic purity of style), let him remember that 
if such are given through yourself as a medium, it 
will be only the prelude to something monstrous 
and absurd. /All my experiences of these beings 
who surround us in the air, sum up this distinct 
conclusion; that they delight in evil as their chief 
object, and especially that branch of evil called 
deception. If any one thing pleases them more 
than any other, it is to make those in the earth 
life believe the most monstrous and absurd theo- 
ries. I would exhort the reader, as did the Apos- 
tie Paul, 'Though we, or an angel from heaven, 
preach any other gospel unto you, let him be ac- 
cursed.' " 

" The most subtle method which these powers 
of the air use to induce belief in their monstrous 
absurdities, consists in making friendly allusions 
to Jesus Christ and his gospel, and in speaking 
very highly of some of its doctrines, and perhaps 
giving a grand dissertation upon one of them, and 
in the meantime weave into the framework of this 



176 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

dissertation a subtle philosophy which would under- 
mine the consistency of the whole and render it per- 
fectly delusive." 

Of course, the skeptic will object that all these 
"confessions" were simply the work of a dis- 
ordered imagination in the mind of the converted 
medium. But I am not writing so much for the 
skeptic as for those who have put together some 
of the overwhelming evidences of the pernicious 
nature of Spiritism in any and all of its forms, and 
who may be warned in time of the certain results 
that come from placing the least confidence in its 
integrity. Of course, these confessions are in full 
accord with the frank admissions of fraud made by 
leading Spiritualists themselves, which we have 
already quoted. 

As to the tendency towards impurity and posi- 
tive immorality, too much can scarcely be said. I 
have already given some very damaging state 
ments on this point, but there is much more to be 
given. Perhaps the following from prominent ad- 
vocates of Spiritism may be considered conclusive, 
in part at least. 



SPIRITISM ITS INNER MYSTERIES. 177 

Dr. Hatch, husband of Cora Richmond, who 
traveled for years in the interests of Spiritism, 
says: '(The most damning iniquities are every- 
where perpetrated in spiritualistic circles 

It is worse than useless to talk to the Spiritualists 
against this condition of things; for those who 
occupy the highest position among them are aid- 
ing and abetting in all classes of iniquities that 
prevail among them. The abrogation of the mar- 
riage tie, bigamy accompanied by robbery, theft, 
rape, are all chargeable to Spiritualism. I most 
solemnly affirm that there has not arisen during 
the past five hundred years a people who are 
guilty of so great a variety of crimes and indecen- 
cies as the Spiritualists of America." 

Dr. Potter says: "After years of careful investi- 
gation we are compelled to admit that more than 
one half of our traveling media, speakers, and 
prominent Spiritualists, are guilty of immoral 
and licentious practices that have justly provoked 
the abhorrence of all right-thinking people. Hun- 
dreds of families have been broken up, and many 
affectionate wives deserted by 'affinity' seeking 



178 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

husbands. Many once devoted wives have been 
seduced and left their husbands and tender help- 
less children to follow some 'higher attraction."' 

John M. Spear, a noted medium, in a lecture in 
Utica, New York, said: " Cursed be the marriage 
institution; cursed be the relation of husband and 
wife; cursed be all who sustain legal marriage." 
His "-affinity" bore him an illegitimate child, and 
this is w T hat she said about it in public: " I will 
exercise the dearest of all rights, the holiest and 
most sacred of all heaven's gifts, the right of ma- 
ternity, in the w r ay which to me seemeth right ; 
and no man, or set of men, no church, no state, 
shall withhold me -from the realization of that 
purest of all inspirations inherent in every true 
woman, the right to rebeget myself, when and 
by whom, and under w r hat circumstances, seems 
to me fit and best." Modern Spiritualism, p. 147. 

With such things as these before us shall we 
wonder at the prediction of Scripture that the 
strangest impurities shall mark the decline and 
fall of the last of earth's empires ? And when 



SPIRITISM ITS INNER MYSTERIES. 179 

we find all these strange* delusions, all these so- 
called esoteric beliefs, with one accord opposing 
with might and main the central truths of the 
Divinity of Jesus, and the virtue of the Blood 
Atonement, shall we not open our eyes to the 
great fact that we live in an age that is peculiarly 
characterized by the word Antichrist. 

Finally I remind my readers of the words of 
Jesus, that the last days, preceding his second 
advent shall be days like to those of Noah and 
Lot; and when we recall that both those periods 
were marked by the strangest and most horrible 
uncleanness, is it altogether a matter of surprise 
that these things are really so ? Without further 
delay I will pass to the consideration of the ques- 
tion, "What was the Tree of Knowledge ?" Let 
even those who have closely followed me thus far 
prepare to be surprised at the revelations of de- 
monism herein for the first time set forth in un- 
varnished lan^uao'e. Were it not that I am per- 
suaded that the " Mystery of Iniquity doth al- 
ready work," and that it is simply hound to have 



180 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

its swing, I would never dream of publishing these 
things. But God's word has declared that they 
shall be, and that they have been; and if God saw 
fit to speak of them, surely we cannot sit in judg- 
ment and condemn all utterance on the subject. 
The great fact is that we, "upon whom the ends of 
the world are come," are called upon to withstand 
" Spirits of wickedness in the heavenlies," who 
" have great wrath, knowing that the time is 
short ; " and we cannot afford to shrink from the 
whole truth because it is horrible and disagree- 
able. Of course it is horrible to one who loves 
God. But that our friends may be saved from 
the horrible fate of being led astray into these un- 
speakably awful temptations, coming to them as 
" angels of light," I do not hesitate to tear aside 
the deceptive veils and show the real demons in 
all their native hideousness. 

Do not too hastily pronounce these things to be 
evolved from the imagination of the writer. Be- 
fore doing so, look carefully to the closeness of the 
logic arid the remarkable thread of thought and 



SPIRITISM — ITS INNER MYSTERIES. 181 

statement in the Scriptures; then ask yourself the 
question: If the Bible be true, what other con- 
elusion can be drawn ? and if it be not true, how 
in the world did so many writers come to put down 
so many things which connect wiVh one another 
and form a consistent whole ? 



PART SECOND. 



£be ©riginal Stn. 




CHAPTER I. 

Zbe Sey ©uestion. 

IgT the very beginning of this chapter I 
wish to warn my readers that this is 
not a dogmatic assertion of a wonder- 
K£ ful discovery, but strictly what is 
called "A Study." Let this be borne 
in mind whenever the reader feels disposed to 
differ with the writer. I do not say that I do 
not believe it; I do believe that this study con- 
tains a very deep and a tremendously important 
truth for these last days. But I submit the evi- 
dence as loaicallv as I can, and leave it with the 
reader on its inherent merits. As I have stated 
in the preface, the language will be perfectly plain 
in speaking of delicate matters; as plain as a 
lecture before a class in medicine. In giving this 
subject as a lecture I give it to men only, and to 



186 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

women only, just as the plainest medical lectures 
are given. In these days of agitation on the 
Social Purity question people are getting used to 
much more explicit descriptions of sexual matters 
than has been customary for a long time. And 
this, if. properly conducted, is a good thing; we 
have too long neglected the most important points 
of vital interest to the race. In the earnest be- 
lief that this subject is of the greatest value to 
one who expects to be equipped for the war with 
the " spirits of wickedness in the heavenlies " in 
these last days, I consent to give these studies to 
my fellow men. 

"Coming events cast their shadows before." A 
great many things are more or less current among 
us which really belong in their fullness to the next 
age. All sorts of efforts are being made to fore- 
stall the Millennium, as that wondrous age draws 
near. Mankind is eagerly bending forward, look- 
ing for "The Coming Man," for the " Golden 
Age"; and a variety of schemes are constantly 
appearing, intended to bring about that age, and 
produce that man by human agencies. Edward 




Plate 21. 



Envy of Otheks' Peacb. 



THE SEX QUESTION. 189 

Bellamy " Looks Backward" on a set of imaginary 
human operations which have brought about an 
age when greed and lust have taken a holiday, 
and unselfishness has become general. The so- 
called Christian Socialist is looking for the adop- 
tion of a set of measures that will insure the equal 
division of everything. The nominal church 
member talks, and the average popular preacher 
preaches, of the speedy conquest of the world by 
the church, as it now is. Every one, Christian, 
infidel, Mohammedan, heathen, high and low, 
bond and free, are looking for another age, when 
all things will be better. And as they look, they 
instinctively strive to hasten it by effort, and plan, 
and work. They cannot help this; it is an instinct 
in the race to do so under such circumstances. 

To make a heaven on earth is the dream of fallen 
humanity. Every single soul of Adam's posterity 
has at one time in his life yielded more or less to 
this instinct, and striven to realize this dream. 
Cain's descendants began the long line of inven- 
tions and "arts" which have ever been the stream 
to which men resort in their desire to slake the 



190 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

burning thirst for happiness that is the secret 
spring of all the work and effort of humanity. 
Not that these sciences and arts are sinful in 
themselves; no, that is not it, but they are sought 
by the race in the blind effort to make this world 
a paradise in spite of the curse of the law. 

In this unconscious groping after the light, the 
agency of the " Prince of this world " is very ap- 
parent. And, as men reach out for that which is 
promised in the future, he manages to get them 
to forestall the sins of the future. This is just 
what we might expect, for how can a fallen being 
ever reach the truth by his own efforts? If he 
looks for happiness, .being entirely poisoned with 
sin, he naturally travels along the channels which 
sin has w T orn; and therefore, in striving to an- 
ticipate happiness, he only anticipates other and 
greater sins. 

Whatever men may think or say, it is certain 
that nothing is becoming of more striking impor- 
tance than the sex question. A mighty impetus 
has been given to its discussion of late through 
the Social Purity movement already referred to. 



THE SEX QUESTION. 191 

The race has been so long given over to impurity 
that people have realized something must be done, 
if possible, to stem the terrible tide of sin and 
death sweeping over the world. ( Licentiousness 
has run riot, as it always has in an age of wealth 
and luxury. But the thinkers are aroused. Papers 
are published on this subject, and the discussion 
has been marked by a plain directness and calm 
technical consideration that has done much to re- 
move a false modesty, and prepare men and women 
to know more about themselves and their children 
than they had dreamed to be of any importance, 
except to physicians. 

As in all new movements, some of these advo- 
cates of purity are inclined to go to extremes. 
Several publications are stoutly maintaining that 
intercourse between the sexes should never take 
place excep't for the propagation of the race; while 
others go still further, and contend that the only 
way to secure the highest holiness is to be conti- 
nent altogether. In other words the asceticism 
which made the first monks and nuns is again 
coming to the front. Much truth is mixed up 



192 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

with error in these writings. An admirable ser- 
mon lately delivered by the Rev. Mr. Clymer 
has been taken up by Fowler and Wells, and 
issued in pamphlet form. The subject is " Food 
and Morals," and the writer forcibly argues for 
the legitimate effects of food on the moral nature, 
presenting an array of facts that are exceedingly 
profitable to any reader. Eat good food, and you 
will be on the high road to health and happiness. 
Fill your stomach with all sorts of indigestible 
and corrupting substances, and the quickest means 
are employed to bring about a general state of 
corruption in the moral nature. People are be- 
ginning to learn this fundamental principle, and 
the papers referred to make a great deal of it. 
But with the truth much error has crept in. 

We are told that care in food and habits of life 
will radically change the nature. One writer talks 
of the race " being bred up to purity and the Mil- 
lennium." Again lie says: " The Millennium of 
purity, happiness, and intense chastity can never 
come except by cheerful obedience to prenatal 
laws." And another goes so far as to assert that 



THE SEX QUESTION. 103 

by practicing continence, except for the propaga- 
tion of offspring, the race will become pure, and 
" a generation of miniature Jesus Christs will be 
brought into beino-." 

This is the same old, old error, the mistake of 
supposing effects can come before causes. It is 
looking for the consequent without the antecedent, 
for the kingdom without the king. Anticipating 
again. When will man learn to take the scientific 
plan? # 

The visible effects of sin have been so terrible 
that there is no wonder men have restlessly sought 
for relief. On this question of sex such dread- 
ful things have been brought to light by the in- 
vestigations of the Social Purity agitators, by Mr. 
Stead, in the Pall Mall Gazette revelations, and by 
others, that people have been startled into atten- 
tion to the subject as never before. Read the 
following, and then say whether it is not high 
time that even more is said and clone- to check the 
awful tide: — 

Oa this point see "Alpha and Omega, or The Birth and Death of the 
World," tor a full discussion of the matter. 



194 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

" To his Excellency, the Viceroy and Governor- 
General of India: — 

"May it please Your Excellency, The undersigned 
ladies, practicing medicine in India, respectfully 
crave Your Excellency's attention to the following 
facts and considerations: — 

" 1. Your Excellency is aware that the present 
state of the Indian law permits marriages to, be 
consummated not only before the wife is physically 
qualified for the duties of maternity, but before 
she is able to perform the duties of the conjugal 
relation, thus giving rise to numerous and great 
evils. 

" 2. This marriage practice has become the 
cause of gross immoralities and cruelties which, 
owing to existing legislation, come practically un- 
der the protection, of the law. In some cases the 
law has permitted homicide and protected men 
who, under other circumstances, would have been 
criminally punished. 

" 3. The institution of child-marriage rests 
upon public sentiment, vitiated by degenerate 
religious customs and misinterpretation of relig- 



THE SEX QUESTION. L95 

ious books. There are thousands among the better 
educated classes who would rejoice if Government 
would take the initiative and make such a law as 
your memorialists plead for, and in the end the 
masses would be grateful for their deliverance 
from the galling yoke that has bound them to 
poverty, superstition, and the slavery of custom 
for centuries. 

" 4. The present system of child-marriage, in 
addition to the physical and moral effects which 
the Indian governments have deplored, produces 
sterility, and consequently becomes an excuse for 
the introduction of other child- wives in the family, 
thus becoming a justification {qy polygamy. 

" 5. This system panders to sensuality, lowers 
the standard of health and morals, degrades the 
race, and tends to perpetuate itself and all its at- 
tendant evils to all future generations. 

" 6. The lamentable case of the child-wife, 
Phulmani Dassi, of Calcutta, which has excited 
the sympathy and the righteous indignation of the 
Indian public, is only one of the many cases that 
are continually happening, the final results being 



196 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

quite as horrible, but sometimes less immediate. 
The following instances have come under the per- 
sonal observation of one or another of Your Excel- 
lency's petitioners: — 

" A. Aged nine. Day after marriage, left 
femur dislocated, pelvis crushed out of shape, flesh 
hanging in shreds. 

" B. Aged ten. Unable to stand, bleeding 
profusely, flesh much lacerated. 

" C. Aged nine. So completely ravished as to 
be almost beyond surgical repair. Her husband 
had two other living wives, and spoke very fine 
English. 

" D. Aged ten. A very small child, and en- 
tirely undeveloped physically. This child was 
bleeding to death from the rectum. Her husband 
was a man of about forty years of age, weighing 
not less than eleven stone. He had accomplished 
his desire in an unnatural way. 

" E. Aged about nine. Lower limbs com- 
pletely paralyzed. 

" F. Aged about twelve. Laceration of the 
perineum extending through the sphincter ani. 



THE SEX QUESTION. 107 

" G. Aged about ten. Very weak from loss 
of blood. Stated that great violence had been 
done her in an unnatural way. 

"H. Aged about twelve. Pregnant, delivered 
by craniotomy with great difficulty on account of 
the immature state of the pelvis and maternal pas- 
sage. 

" I. Aged about seven. Living with husband. 
Died in great agony after three days. 

" K. Aged about ten. Condition most piti- 
able. After one day in hospital was demanded 
by her husband, for his " lawful " use, he said. 

" L. Aged eleven. From great violence done 
her person will be a cripple for life. No use of 
her lower extremities. 

"M. Aged about ten. Crawled to hospital 
on her hands and knees. Has never been able to 
stand erect since her marriage. 

" N. Aged nine Dislocation of pubic arch, 
and unable to stand or put one foot before the 
other. 

"In view of the above facts, the undersigned 
lady doctors and medical practitioners appeal to 



198 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Your Excellency's compassion to enact or intro- 
duce a measure by which the consummation of 
marriage will not be permitted before the wife has 
attained the full age of fourteen (14) years. The 
undersigned venture to trust that the terrible 
urgency of the matter will be accepted as an ex- 
cuse for the interruption of Your Excellency's 
time and attention. 

"Written and prepared by Mrs. N. Monelle- 
Mansell, M. A., M. D., Lucknow, India. Sub- 
mitted to Government 22d September, 1890. 
Signed by fifty-five lady doctors. The above 
facts should elicit the compassion of all enlight- 
ened womanhood in behalf of child-wives. Are 
not they of more consequence than our dumb ani- 
mals upon which we lavish so much sympathy and 
affection? N. M.-M." 

Such horrors as these surely indicate that there 
is something wrong, something fundamental; but 
what can it be? If we ask of the brute creation, 
w r e at once notice a radical difference. Here no 
such sins take place. Instinct rules absolutely. 
Why such a difference in the human family, for 



THE SEX QUESTION. L99 

we are also animals ? It is not sufficient to assign 
the presence of reason as the sole cause for such 
perversion, for the other appetites are not so much 
affected. The question is imperative now, when 
so many are teaching total abstinence. The 
Esoterics talk glibly of the "adepts," who are 
away beyond the pull of human passion, and who 
thereby are able to exert the most miraculous 
power over nature. The Rosicrucians of old are 
outdone by these latter-day saints of a new re- 
ligion. The pedantic author of " Koreshanism " 
lately wrote in his paper of a time soon to come 
when by a " conflagration of males and females 
the real ' marriage of the lamb' will be brought 
about, for these [who are thus conflagrated] will 
be the first fruits of the kingdom." The Theo- 
sophs in grand conclave in Chicago, in 1892, told 
of the " Mahatmas," secluded in the fastnesses of 
Thibet, who are so marvelously powerful that if 
an ordinary mortal should happen to come into 
their presence, lie would be incinerated immedi- 
ately. (This explains why the general newspaper 
reporter has never been able to interview a Ma- 



200 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

hatma yet.) Those wonderful beings consider- 
ately seclude themselves from common view in 
order to save making so many piles of ashes of 
the unfortunates who might be tempted to break 
in and gaze; but remember, all this is soberly 
believed by multitudes of the educated elite of the 
land. 

Is there any wonder that Paul wrote of the 
" seducing spirits" to whom men would give heed 
in the last times? They are surely here; but 
note this specially. In the midst of this strange 
tide of teaching on the line of separation between 
the sexes, we recall that the Antichrist, the " Man 
of Sin " of the last days, is distinctly stated by 
Daniel to have no " regard for the love of 
women. " # Almost every earthly conqueror here- 
tofore has been made weak through woman's love 
or lust; but here we are told that the devil's 
great masterpiece will be of another mind alto- 
gether. He will have nothing to do with the 
weaker sex. What does this mean? I think we 
have a dew. Let us follow it. 

Daniel xi. 37. See also I. Timothy iv. 3. 




Plate 22. 



Waiting His Opporti miv. 



THE SEX QUESTION. 203 

THE WOMAN MOVEMENT. 

We live in the midst of the greatest woman 
movement the .world has ever seen in any age of 
which we have extensive history. On every side 
and in every way woman is coming to the front. 
It matters not what our opinions may be as to 
the merits of the case; the fact stares us in the 
face that the most prominent question before the 
great Christian denominations to-day is the woman 
question. (General assembly and conference 
have their hands and their time pretty well filled 
in discussing what shall be done with woman in 
the church^ Political parties are giving more and 
more of their attention to the influence of woman 
in their particular sphere. The W. C. T. U. has 
become already a tremendous political power. 
Law and medicine and art and science are open 
to her advances. Religious thought is not secure 
from her resistless invasion. Pulpits are calling 
her; publishers bow to her. These are sober facts 
that cannot be gainsaid; but in the midst of this 
general progress there is one fact of tremendous im- 
port that lias escaped general attention. It is this: — 



204 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

All the peculiar heresies that abound in the 
world to-day, especially those that deal with 
metaphysical distinctions and refinements, give 
strange prominence to woman. In fact, most of 
the in exalt her to the office of priestess, so to 
speak. Theosophy has its Madame Blavatsky 
and Annie Besant; Christian Science has "Rev." 
Mrs. Dr. Eddy; Spiritualism has its legions of 
female media; Electrical Spirit Romance has 
Marie Correlli; Humanitarianism has Mrs. Ward; 
" Christian Socialism" has Katherine Wood; and 
in every department of thought a strange and 
singular prominence is given to woman. There 
seems to be a dangerous tendency to almost deify 
woman. Years ago I pointed out the certainty 
that the great W. C. T. U. would run dangerously 
near the rocks in the inevitable pursuit of woman's 
exaltation. Recently, in the city of Boston, at 
the Tremont Temple, one enthusiastic admirer 
shouted out: " Francis Willard, right or wrong; 
that is my creed." The applause was general, 
and while much of it was undoubtedly due to the 
popular estimation of that excellent lady, yet it 



THE SEX QUESTION. 205 

was enough to cause one who has been watching 
the trend of the age to ponder on the possibilities 
before us. 

Many of my readers have never heard or read 
the vagaries of the Theosophs. Were they an in- 
significant sect, few in numbers, we might dismiss 
their wild utterances as the ravings of madmen. 
But when we find publishing houses existing on 
the issuing of books by their favorite writers, 
some of which books have been priced at five dol- 
lars a volume, and yet sold in the thousands in a 
short time after publication, we begin to suspect 
that they are more influential than we had sup- 
posed. And it will be news to some who read 
these lines to be told that these people talk of the 
failure of the second Adam, and look for a second 
Eve, a female Messiah who will soon come and re- 
deem the race from sin and suffering. Let me 
quote freely from one of their best books, a vision 
of one of the writers. I will give it very closely. 
though not in the exr.ct lano-ua^e of the book, as 
I have not got it by me. 

" In mv vision I saw what seemed to bo a great 



206 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

temple of Moslem architecture [italics mine]. As I 
gazed upon it I heard a mighty voice from the 
heavens cry out, ' Worship God alone ! ' The in- 
terior of the temple appeared to be hidden by a 
heavy veil, and the voice cried, ' Take away the 
veil of idolatry !' With a strong effort I rent 
away the veil, and saw Buddha, surrounded by 
millions of worshippers. And presently he passed 
from sight. The second veil was very heavy, 
heavier than the first, and it was deep red. Again 
the voice was heard, crying, 'Take away the veil 
of blood ! ' With a stronger effort this, too, was 
rent away, and I saw Jesus, surrounded by a still 
greater crowd of worshippers. And he, too, passed 
away. The sight was still obstructed by a third 
veil, heavier and darker than either of the others. And 
the voice cried, 'Take away the Curse of Evef 
When this veil was rent by a last mighty effort, I 
saw a beautiful woman, seated on a white elephant, 
whose trappings glittered in a stream of light that 
fell from the sky above her. And, as I watched, 
she slowly ascended into the heavens; and the 
great voice cried, 'Worship God alone ! ' " 



THE SEX QUESTION. 207 

Remember, that this vision closes a book that 
professes to tell how to "Find Christ." Remem- 
ber, also, that in all the long centuries of the 
Scripture history God never once ordained a 
priestess, while every heathen religion provided 
them in unlimited quantities. (And only once in 
thousands of years did the Almighty sanction the 
rule of a woman, and that was "permitted in the 
chaotic days when Deborah briefly gave direction 
to the affairs of state and church V The most 
rabid advocates of extreme "Woman's Rights" can- 
not blot out these facts.Q They will not down. 
But at this time, not only is woman brought to 
the front in the boldest manner, but there is also an 
undeniable tendency to exalt the celibate state as 
superior to the union of the sexes in marriage ; # and 
with this comes a strange whisper of a mysterious 
sex union in the individual, or in some darkly 
mystical "spiritual" sense. Let us not forget 
that there were two sexes needed in the* ark to go 
through the flood of water, and there will be 

mbers of hitherto useful Christiana have become (sainted with 
this heresy in tin: last few years. (" Forbidding t<> marry." I. Timothy 

iv.) 



208 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

needed both to go through the flood of fire so 
soon to visit the earth. 

The result of this tendency to separate woman 
from man, and make her independent, is twofold. 
QVlan rebels against it, of course, and troubles 
without number follow., ( If my readers had before 
them a tithe of the information that has come in 
my way on this point, there would be no need to 
write further. (Families are broken up, separa- 
tions made final, happiness destroyed, business 
schemes frustrated, peace transformed into war, 
and calm into storm in hundreds and even thou- 
sands of cases!\ (The heart instinctively hides 
most of such pains and agonies, and the public 
only becomes acquainted with the final outward 
effectsTY These are bad enough, and frequent 
enough to attract considerable attention ; and 
many are the articles written and solutions offered 
on the problem of domestic relations. 

Q stand boldly out before the men and women of 
my age and generation, and charge directly upon this 
modern undue exaltation of woman, the real cause 
that makes ''marriage a failure," in thousands of in- 
stances at leasfc\ 



THE SEX QUESTION. 209 

But I must not anticipate. The other effect of 
this movement is on woman's side. She is origin- 
ally constituted to cling to a stronger nature, and 
as she turns away from man, Satan is ready to 
take advantage of this instinct, and provides a 
"spirit lover" ready to her hand. In one of the 
most popular of recent novels the heroine is de- 
picted as not caring for men, nor the hero for 
women. Each has a wonderful spirit affinity 
whose transcendent attractions lift them far above 
all earthly and human loves. .So plainly is this 
thought expressed that, in one place, some one 
comes in and sings a song, with the line, 

"The woman wailing for her demon lover." * 

This book was selling in the sixty thousands a 
short time after its issue, and many people wrote 
to the authoress to tell her how cleat she had 
made the "horrid doctrine of the blood atone- 
ment" to their minds. Mark! The undue ex- 

* See frontispiece. The heroine is constantly trying to carve a statue 
of her spirit lover, hut without success. She is seen in her Btudio, 
standing before the unfinished figure, with outstretched arms, appa- 
rently in conversation with an unseen being, ami the friend wbodiftcoy- 
era her sings the refrain quoted above. 



210 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

altation of woman in a strange intercourse with 
the spirit world, and the tearing down of the cen- 
tral work of Jesus — a real antichrist writing, 
not very much disguised. The clew is growing. 

But I hear some one say in amazement: " You 
do not mean to assert that human beings can have 
sexual intercourse with spirits V I reply: Re- 
member the serious words of Mr. Stead, quoted 
on page 159. They were written after much in- 
vestigation, and meant that some people have had 
experiences which seem to be of this very nature. 
In plain English Mr. Stead meant this and noth- 
ing else. And I am prepared to assert, after the 
accumulation of evidence as conclusive as it could 
well be, that this is certainly true. More than 
that, it is much more widely known and practiced 
than most persons are prepared to believe without 
a great deal of examination into the facts in the 
case. 

(1 have the testimony of the most reliable wit- 
nesses that some persons, while rolling on the 
ground in the so-called " trances" at the fanatical 
meetings held by the notorious Mrs. Woodworth 



THE SEX QUESTION. 211 

in California in 1890, were seen to be under the 
most powerful sexual excitement and evident grat- 
ification. But the incredulous reader exclaims, 
"They were unconscious, and it may, as Mr. Stead 
says, have been 'purely objective !' " # Wait a 
moment. I have in my possession a long letter, 
written by a woman who was at one time prominent 
in religious work and teaching. She writes many 
pages to explain to another woman all about this 
strange sexual gratification with an unseen being. 
To her it had come as an " angel of light," and 
perverted the beautiful Scriptures that speak of 
the closeness of the communion with the Lord 
under the type of the marriage relation. Such 
verses as " Thy Maker is thy husband," and the 
figures of Solomon's song were takeii literally, and 
the deluded writer describes how this wonderful 
state of "communion" can be attained. She de- 
clares that it is "precisely like the experience of 
intercourse between a married couple." Of the 
methods I will not speak, for fear the devil might 

* Read again the statements or confessions of tin- spirits quoted <>n 

page 17 1 about "using the human bodj with all its organs and facull 



212 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

get the advantage of some weak reader if I did. 
Suffice it to say that the fundamental principle of 
the entire and deliberate resignation of the will to 
the " spirit" is strongly enforced, just as it is in 
all attempts to become a spirit medium. Do not 
turn away in utter incredulity. I am relating 
awful but tremendous facts. Wherever I go, and 
generally speak against such impurities even in the 
careful language necessary before a mixed audi- 
ence, some one comes to me and tells me of the 
prevalence of these things among the people, or of 
their own enslavement by them. But let us look 
farther into the Scriptures on this point. 

I have already quoted the words of Paul in 
Colossians ii. 18, "Beware lest any man beguile 
you into a voluntary humility, and worshipping of 
demons, intruding into those things which he hath 
not seen, vainly puffed up in his fleshly mind." 
Notice the word "fleshly." It is significant. And 
this warning is for the church in all ages, certainly 
for these days in which we live. 

In I. Corinthians xi. 10, we find a most singular 
passage: "For this cause ought the woman to 




Plate 23. 



Tin: Seduction. 



THE SEX QUESTION. 215 

have power on her head because of the angels." 
Read the context and you will see that it contains 
a special discussion of the proper headship of man 
over woman, and that the whole thing is referred 
to the fall in Eden. 

Why is this? All things have a reason. Let 
us look farther. In I. Samuel xxviii. 7, we read 
of a woman who " was "the mistress of a demon." 
I give the literal sense of the Hebrew. The words 
in the English, " hath a familiar spirit" do not re- 
veal the truth of the original. This phrase occurs 
many times in the Old Testament, and really means 
exactly instead of "a woman who hath a familiar 
spirit," " a woman, the mistress of a demon." And 
the word "mistress" has all the unclean signifi- 
cance that it has in English when we say that a 
woman is the mistress of a man. 

To the objector I say. What are you going to 
do about it? Is the Bible inspired? Did God 
know the facts when he allowed men to write so ! 
Here has been, for thousands of years, this plain 
declaration of the Word of God that this very in- 
tercourse between women and spirits was not only 



216 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

possible, but was an actual fact. I had been in- 
clined to doubt the existence of such things in the 
case of the male sex ; but at the close of this lec- 
ture in San Francisco, a man of sixty years of age 
came to me and said, "I am in that very state now, 
and have been for years. What can I do to get 
rid of them ? " He insisted that this was so. Cer- 
tainly God said that the " man who is a wizard " 
should be treated asa <( witch " ; and again we read 
of a "man or a woman that hath a familiar spirit." 
See Leviticus xviii. 19-27, and xx. 5, 6. Is the 
Bible true or false f 

In the light of this revelation who cannot see why 
the Almighty decreed that, " Ye shall not suffer a 
witch to live." The fate of such a wretch was to 
be " stoned with stones." Leviticus xx. 27. Have 
you ever thought that the belief which dismisses 
the women of this class in the Bible times to the 
company of idiots and superstitious fanatics makes 
out a most terrible case of judgment against the 
Almighty ? Is God a God who pronounces sen- 
tence of death upon an idiot simply for his lunacy? 
Does the God of Moses and of Abraham make such 



THE SEX QUESTION. 217 

a frightful mistake as to kill people for a piece of 
ignorant superstition ? Are we going to class our 
God with the witch burners of Massachusetts, and 
even the fanatical Africans in their fear of the 
" hoodoo " ? Well, this is the inexorable conclu- 
sion of the matter if we insist on believing that 
the witches of Moses' time were simply self-de- 
ceived. There is no escape from this ; no corner 
into which to crawl. Here are the hard facts. 
God specially singled out these sins as the sins of 
the Canaanites. He specially warned his people 
against them, and declared that on account of 
these sins he destro} r ed seven nations, men, women, 
and children. He specially sentenced in advance 
any man or woman who should enter into this 
mysterious intercourse with spirits; and that sen- 
tence was death, without appeal. Enough of the 
details of the worship of Astarte, the special god- 
dess of the Canaanites, has come down to us to 
fill us with horror at its unspeakable filthiness. 
But as we put all these things together, what sane 
man can fail to see that such sweeping destruc- 
tion demands a sufficient reason. No wonder the 



218 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

infidels, like Ingersoll and Paine, have pitched 
upon this as an evidence of cruelty on the part of 
the Almighty. I unhesitatingly declare that the 
church has never had a wholly sufficient answer 
to this charge, because it has not opened its eyes 
to the real depths of the sins mentioned. I know 
that the answers given have always been along 
the line of the vileness of the people of Canaan, 
but this deeper iniquity has been overlooked. 

But suppose we see that there were seven na- 
tions, occupying the land, who were saturated 
through and through with this crowning sin. 
Suppose we conceive of a people whose very blood 
was poisoned by demon intercourse, until the chil- 
dren were tainted with the blood of hell. Cannot 
anyone see that the utter destruction of such a 
demon-infected spawn was the only possible way 
to purify the land % I insist on it, every effect 
must have an adequate cause, and every act of the 
center of all reason must have a consistent reason 
behind it. "Cruelty!" did you say? What 
greater evidence of kindness, on the part of an all- 
powerful ruler, to thoroughly disinfect a fever- 



THE SEX QUESTION, 219 

smitten climate before taking his own people into 
it ? What stronger proof of the love of God than 
this arbitrary destruction of the works of the 
devil ? So a little common-sense study of the 
truth turns this favorite weapon of the infidel 
squarely against himself, and presents another un- 
answerable demonstration of the marvelous mercy 
of the God of Love. 




CHAPTER II. 

£be Sin of tbe Hngeis- 

Oi^^)0 settle all doubts as to the existence 
||| and activity of angels, good and bad, 
read in Daniel of the " Prince of Per- 
sia " who " withstood " the messenger 
tfc 9 of God, and of "Michael your Prince" 
who came to the rescue. Remember how Satan 
contended with Michael for the body of Moses in 
Jude ; the story of Ahab's lying prophets in Kings 
and Chronicles ; the personal appearance of Satan 
in Job's case; the "Watcher and the holy one" 
who decreed the punishment of Nebuchadnezzar; 
the angel in Egypt, at Jericho, at the threshing 
floor of Oman, at the destruction of Sennacherib's 
host, and of the host about Elisha at Dothan, and 
of the " twelve legions " for which Jesus could 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 221 

have prayed. Nothing is plainer in Scripture 
than the personality of good and of evil angels, 
and of their interference in the affairs of men. 
(See Hebrews i. 13, 14, and Mark i. 24.) 

Jesus said, "As it was in the days of Noah 
.... and as it was in the days of Lot, so shall it 
be in the days of the Son of Man." We have 
hastily concluded that the only reference here is 
to the suddenness of the destruction that overtook 
the people of those periods. But this is a serious 
mistake. Christ evidently meant to compare the 
general and particular characteristics of those 
early times with the last days. It behooves us 
to inquire what were the special features of the 
times referred to. In the days of Noah we see 
four conspicuous characteristics: 1. The multi- 
plicity of sciences and inventions, produced by the 
sinful line of Cain, in their effort to make the 
world tolerable in spite of the curse. 2. The sin 
of the wicked angels with the women of the time. 
3. The preparation of the ark, and the preaching 
of Noah (preceded by that <»f Enoch). 4. The 
carelessness and indifferent unbelief of the r*oe in 
general towards all warning. 



222 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Certainly it is easy to see the reproduction ot 
the first of these great signs Such ah age of 
invention the world never saw before. This 
will pass without a question from anyone. The 
third and fourth signs are very distinctly marked. 
Many are diligently preaching the near coming 
of the Lord, but the great mass refuse to hear. 
The public prints ridicule us, and caricature the 
solemn descriptions of awful judgments^ A San 
Francisco leading daily recently gave two columns 
to an absurd article on my lectures, picturing the 
baseball players of that city in the act of striking 
at the fiery meteors, which God's word declares 
shall, and which science frankly admits may, at any 
time largely destroy this earth and mosfc of its 
wicked inhabitants. Even the most careful utter- 
ances of men like Dr. A. J. Gordon, of Boston, 
are ridiculed in the same way by the great major- 
ity. It all serves to prove the truth of the Scrip- 
ture to the careful student, and shows how gener- 
ally the race is ripening for the last great cataclysm. 
Eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, 
buying, selling, planting, building; how the w f orld 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 223 

is filled with these schemes and efforts after earthly 
happiness ! Q And what a general weakening of the 
old standards of faith! "Higher Criticism!" 
Heaven save the mark ! Anything to lower faith 
in the plain word of God from which " not one 
jot or tittle shall pass away till all be fulfilled." 

The second sign is here, whatever the incredu- 
lous may say; and the proof of this is one of the 
chief purposes of this book Before passing to 
this proof it is well to remember Sodom, and think 
of the great distinguishing characteristic of filthy 
sins which have been stamped even upon the name 
of the city. From those days to these, sodomy has 
been regarded as one of the worst and most de- 
grading of all sins; yet the worst has not been 
realized. We turn now to ask, if the last days are 
to be marked by the reproduction of those sins of 
Sodom and of the wicked angels, what were those 
sins? Have we any reliable record of them 1 
Certainly we have; but its study will probably 
prove a surprise to many faithful readers of the 
Scriptures. 

Peter speaks at length of the sins of unclean- 



224 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

ness which are to mark the last days. In II. 
Peter ii. we read: " But there were false prophets 
also among the people, even as there shall be false 
teachers among you, who privily [that is, in dis- 
guise] shall bring in damnable heresies, even deny- 
ing the Lord that bought them [all of the ' isms' 
do sooner or later]. .... And many shall follow 
their pernicious ways [warrant here for my asser- 
tions that these things are not merely the ravings 
of a few] ; by reason of whom the truth shall be 
evil spoken of. [How this is coming true ! Be- 
cause of these imitations the greatest amount of 
discredit is cast on the truth. The power and 
willingness of God to" heal in answer to the ' prayer 
of faith ' is sneered at because of the false imita- 
tions under various names.] .... But if God 
spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them 
down to hell [the word is Tartarus, the only place 
it occurs. It seems to mean the outer confines of 
the universe. Note this in connection with my 
comment on the 'great chain' of revelation, and 
the binding of Satan # away from the earth in the 

* See "Alpha and Omega. 




Plate 24. 



Tin: Fall Accomplished. 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 227 

* bottomless pit'], and delivered them unto chains 
of darkness to be reserved unto judgment; and 
spared not the old world, but delivered Noah, the 
eighth person,'* a preacher of righteousness, bring- 
ing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 
and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah 
into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, 
making them an ensample unto those that should 

live ungodly The Lord knoweth how to 

deliver the godly out of temptations, and to re- 
serve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be 
punished; but chiefly those that walk after the 

* I cannot forbear a brief note here on the marvels of the numbers of 
the Bible. Why is Noah called the "eighth person"? Eight is the 
number of the new life. Following the perfect seven, it speaks of a 
new beginning. So the number of the name of Jesus (that is, the sum 
of the numbers for which the Greek letters stand) is eight hundred and 
eighty- eight. In this threefold repetition we have the greatest inten- 
sity; just as the six hundred and sixty-six of the "Beast" gives the in- 
tensive of the number six, the number of sin. Now Noah is peculiarly a 
type of the new birth, a new life, in that he came through the flood — 
the washing of regeneration for the world — to begin the new life on the 
hither side. So we find the number of the new Life, eight, stamped m 
everything about him. Thus: the year of the flood, IGotj, the forty 
days' rain, the one hundred and twenty years of preaching, the right in 
the ark, the cubical contents of the ark, the total time in the ark, — all 
these arc perfect multiples of eight. And when we turn to his nam.', 
according to one spelling, we have fifty-six, or seven times eight; and 
the other spelling gives eight times eight So wonderfully are the typi- 
cal records written everywhere. 



228 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

flesh in the lust of uncleanness Spots they 

are and blemishes .... having eyes full of adul- 
tery, and that cannot cease from sin ; beguiling un- 
stable souls; an heart they have exercised with 
covetous practices; cursed children, which have 
forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, fol- 
lowing the way of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who 
loved the wages of unrighteousness; but was re- 
buked for his iniquity; the dumb ass speaking with 
man's voice forbade the madness of the prophet. 
(Note this specially) These are wells with- 
out water, clouds that are carried with a tempest, 
to whom is reserved the mist of darkness forever. 
.... They allure through the lusts of the flesh, 
through much wantonness .... while they prom- 
ise them liberty, they themselves are the servants 
of corruption." How these errors of to-day prom- 
ise the liberty of the deep knowledge in their 
possession ! The inspired writer here most dis- 
tinctly classes the "sin of the angels " and the sins 
of Sodom and Gomorrah with the filthy sensuali- 
ties of the teachers which were to come in the 
future. No one can deny this, for there it is in 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 229 

plain language. You may question inspiration, but 
not the existence of the record. Our eyes can read 
it for ourselves. 

But another witness has arisen in these last 
days. The Book of Enoch is now In our posses- 
sion, and can be read by all. The early Christian 
Fathers quoted freely from this book, and seemed 
to think it genuine in the main. Long ago it was 
lost to the world of letters, but in the latter part 
of the last century Bruce, the great African trav- 
eler, found two copies of it in Ethiopia, and 
brought them to England. About 1825 Arch- 
bishop Lawrence translated it into English, and 
it excited a great deal of notice and comment. 
Somewhere in the early seventies (1872 I think) 
a revision was made by a learned Englishman, the 
author of " The Evolution of Christianity " ; and 
only three years ago still another lias been issued, 
from the Andover press in Massachusetts. Now 
it is singular that this book contains in full the ac- 
count of the " sin of the angels," and details how 
Enoch was sent by God to preach to them, and 
pronounce judgment upon them for their mighty 



230 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

wickedness. Here we find all those remarkable 
names for the angels that Milton uses in his Para- 
dise Lost, for the names of the principal leaders 
of the satanic hosts are given with some minute- 
ness. The sin is distinctly described as being a 
sexual union with the women of the time. Only 
this, nothing more. If there is any part of the 
book that is genuine, it is undoubtedly the first 
part, in which this description occurs. The latter 
portion of the book seems to bear the evidences 
of having been added a long time after. In this 
book is found the famous prophecy of Enoch 
quoted by the apostle Jude. But it is well to 
quote the story in full. 

BOOK OF ENOCH CHAPTER VII. # 

1. It happened after the sons of men had mul- 
tiplied in those day, that daughters were born to 
them, elegant and beautiful. 

* The editor argues powerfully for the truth of much of the book; 
he shows that it is undoubtedly of Hebrew origin, and certainly comes 
from a period long befere the time of Christ. He admits the ad- 
mixture of the false, but concludes that we "must inevitably enroll 
Enoch among the prophets, or reconsider the suparnatural in Christi- 
anity. " 



THK SIN OF THE ANGELS. 231 

2. And when the angels, the sons of heaven, 
beheld them, they became enamoured of them, 
saying to each other, Come, let us select for our- 
selves wives from the progeny of men, and let us 
betret children. 

3. Then their leader, Samyaza, said to them, 
I fear that you may perhaps be indisposed to the 
performance of this enterprise; 

4. And that I alone shall suffer for so grievous 
a crime. 

5. But they answered him and said, We all 
swear; 

6. And bind ourselves by mutual execrations, 
that we will not change our intentions, but exe- 
cute our projected undertaking. 

7. Then they all swore together, and all bound 
themselves by mutual execrations. Their whole 
number was two hundred, who descended upon 
Ardis, which is the top of Mount Armon. 

8. That mountain was therefore called Armon, 
because they had sworn upon it, and bound them- 
selves by mutual execrations. 

9. These arc the names of their chiefs: Sam- 



232 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

yaza, who was their leader, Urakabarameel, Azi- 
beel, Tanriel, Ramuel, Dane], Azkeel, Saraknyal, 
Asael, Armers, Batrael, Yomyael, Arazyal. These 
were the prefects of the two hundred angels, and 
the vremainder were all with them. 

10. Then they took wives; each choosing for 
himself; whom they began to approach, and with 
whom they cohabited; teaching them sorcery, in- 
cantations, and the dividing of roots and trees. 

11. And the women conceiving brought forth 
giants, 

12. Whose stature was each three hundred cu- 
bits. # These devoured all which the labor of men 
produced ; until it became impossible to feed them ; 

14. And began to injure birds and beasts, rep- 
tiles, and fishes, to eat their flesh one after an- 
other, and to drink their blood. 

15. Then the earth reproved the unrighteous. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

1. Moreover, Azazyel taught men to make 
swords, knives, shields, breastplates, the fabrica- 

* Scripture says distinctly that the offspring of this unnatural union 
were "giants." This, however, does not require us to accept the 
"three hundred cubits." The basis of fact is one thing; the enveloping 

r. k. a 



THE SIN OF THE A.NGELS. 2 ■)'■'> 

tion of mirrors, and the workmanship of bracelets 
and ornaments, the use of paints, the beautifying 
of the eyebrows, the use of stones of every valu- 
able and select kind, and all sorts of dyes, so that 
the world became altered. 

2. Impiety increased; fornication multiplied; 
and they transgressed and corrupted all their 
ways. 

3. Amazarak taught all the sorcerers and divi- 
ders of roots. 

4. Arrners taught the solution of sorcery. 

5. Barkayal taught the observers of the stars. 

6. Akibeel taught signs. 

7. Tamiel taught astronomy. 

8. And Asradel taught the motion of the moon. 

9. And men, being destroyed, cried out; and 
their voice reached unto heaven. 

CHAPTER IX. 

1. Then Michael, and Gabriel, Raphael, Suryal, 
and Uriel looked down from heaven and saw the 
quantity of blood which was shed upon the earth, 
and said. ... to their Lord, the King. . . . 

5. Thou hast seen what Azazyel has done, how 



234 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

he has taught every species of iniquity upon the 
earth. . . . 

6. Samyaza also has taught sorcery, to whom 
thou hast given authority over those who are as- 
sociated with him. They have gone together to 
the daughters of men ; have lain with them ; have 
become polluted. 

7. And have discovered crimes to them. 

8. The women likewise have brought forth 
giants. 

9. Thus the whole earth has been filled with 
blood and iniquity. (Then the Lord sent a mes- 
senger to Noah and gave him warning of the flood.) 

CHAPTER X. 

6. Again the Lord said to Raphael, bind Az- 
azyel hand and foot; cast him into darkness. . . . # 

8. There shall he remain forever ; cover his face 
that he may not see the light. 

9. And in the great day of judgment let him be 
cast into the fire. 

11. All the earth shall not perish in conse- 

* II. Peter ii. 4. 




Plate 25. 



Thk Birth of Fi w. 



THE SIN OF THE ANGi 237 

quence of every secret by which the watchers 
have destroyed, and which they have taught their 
offspring. 

13. To Gabriel the Lord said, Go to the biters, 
the reprobates, to the children of fornication ; and 
destroy the children of fornication, the offspring 
of the watchers from among men. 

To Michael likewise the Lord said,- Go and 
announce his crime to Samyaza, and to the others 
who are with him, who have been associated with 
women, that they might be polluted with all their 
impurity. And when all their sons shall be slain, 
when they shall see the perdition of their beloved, 
bind them for seventy generations underneath the 
earth, even to the day of judgment, and of con- 
summation, until the judgment, the effect of which 
shall last forever, be completed. 

1G. Then shall they be taken away into the low- 
est depths of the fire in torments; and in confine- 
ment shall they be shut up forever. 

18. Destroy all the souls addicted to dalliance, 
and the offspring of the watchers, for they have 
tyrannized oxer mankind. 



238 TREE OP KNOWLEDGE. 

CHAPTER XIT. 

5. Then the Lord said to me : Enoch, scribe 
of righteousness, Go tell the watchers of heaven, 
who have deserted the lofty sky, and their holy 
everlasting station, who have been polluted with 
women. 

6. And have done as the sons of men do, by 
taking to themselves wives, and who have been 
greatly corrupted upon the earth; 

7. That on the earth they shall never obtain 
peace and remission of sin. For they shall not 
rejoice in their offspring ; they shall behold the 
slaughter of their beloved ; shall lament for the 
destruction of their sons ; and petition forever; 
but shall not obtain mercy and peace. # 

CHAPTER XIII. 

1. Then Enoch, passing on, said to Azazyel, 
Thou shalt not obtain peace. A great sentence 
has gone forth against thee; 

2. Neither shall relief, mercy and supplication 
be thine, on account of the oppression which thou 
hast taught; 

* II. Peter ii. 9. 



THE SIX OF Til ELS. 

3. And on account of every act of blasphemy, 
tyranny, and sin which thou hast taught to the 
children of men; 

4. Then departing from him I spoke to them 
all together; 

5. And they all became terrified and trembled ; # 

6. Beseeching me to write for them a memo- 
rial of supplication, etc. 

Enoch then had a wonderful vision in which he 
saw the Lord in heaven, and one whom he de- 
scribes in language similar to that employed in 
Scripture in relation to Christ. The punishment 
of the watchers was reaffirmed, and then the 
voice of the Lord called Enoch near, and 

CHAPTER xv. 

1. Then, addressing me, He spoke and said, 
Hear, neither be afraid, righteous Enoch, thou 
scribe of righteousness: Approach hither and hear 
my voice. Go, say to the watchers of heaven, 
who have sent thee to pray for them, You ought 
to pray for men, and not men for you. 

* James ii. 19. 



240 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

2. Wherefore have you forsaken the lofty and 
holy heaven, which endures forever, and. have lain 
with women; have defiled yourselves with the 
daughters of men; have taken to yourselves wives; 
have acted like the sons of earth, and have begot- 
ten impious offspring? 

3. You being spiritual, holy, and possessing a 
life which is eternal, have polluted yourselves 
with women, have begotten in carnal blood, have 
lusted in the blood of men, have done as those do 
who are flesh and blood. 

4. These however die and perish. 

5. Therefore have I given to them wives, that 
they might cohabit with them, that sons might be 
born of them, and that this might be transacted 
upon the earth. 

6. But you, from the beginning were made 
spiritual, possessing a life which is eternal, and not 
subject to death forever. 

7. Therefore I made not wives for you, because 
being spiritual your dwelling is in heaven. . 

8. Now the giants, who were born of spirit 
and flesh, shall be called on earth evil spirits, 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 24 L 

and earth shall be their habitation. Evil spirits 
shall proceed from their flush, because they 
were created from above; from the holy watchers 
was their beginning and primary foundation. 
Evil spirits shall they be upon earth, and the 
spirits of the wicked shall they be called. 

9. The spirits of the giants shall be like clouds, * 
which shall oppress, corrupt, fall, contend, and 
bruise upon the earth. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

1. And as to the death of the giants, whereso- 
ever their spirits depart from their bodies, let 
their flesh, that which is perishable, be without 
judgment. Thus shall they perish until the day 
of the great consummation of the great world. 

2. And now to the watchers, who have sent 
thee to pray for them, who in the beginning were 
in heaven, 

3. Say, In heaven have you been; secret things, 
however, have not been manifested to you; yet 
have you known a reprobated mystery. 

4. And this have you related to women in the 

* II. Peter ii. 17. 



242 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

hardness of your heart, and by that mystery # have 
women and mankind multiplied evils upon the 
earth. 

5. Say to them, Never therefore shall you ob- 
tain peace. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

1. Then Uriel said, Here the angels who co- 
habited with women, appointed their leaders; 

2. And being numerous in appearance made 
men profane, and caused them to err; so that they 
sacrificed to devils as to God.f For in the great 
day there shall be a judgment, with which they 
shall be judged, until they are consumed; and their 
wives also shall be judged, who led astray the an- 
gels of heaven that they might salute them. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

1. Then I made a circuit to a place where 
nothing was completed, a desolate spot, prepared 
and terrific. 

3. There too I beheld seven stars of heaven 
bound together, like great mountains, and like 

* Revelation xvii. 5; and II. Thessalonians ii. 7. 
1 1. Corinthians x. 20. 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 243 

blazing fire. I exclaimed, for what species of 
crime have they been bound, and why have they 
been removed to this place? Then Uriel, one of 
the holy angels who was with me, and conducted 
me, answered: Enoch, these are those of the 
stars which have transgressed the commandment 
of the most high God; and are here bound, until 
the infinite number of the days of their crimes be 
completed. 

5. I beheld the preparation of a great fire blaz- 
ing and glittering, in the midst of which then: 
was a division. Columns of fire struggled to- 
gether to the end of the abyss, and deep was their 
descent, -but neither its measurement nor magni- 
tude was I able to discover; neither could I per- 
ceive its origin. Then I exclaimed, How terrible 
is this place, and how difficult to explore. 

6. Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with 
me, answered and said: Enoch, why art thou 
alarmed and amazed at this terrific place, at the 
sight of this place of suffering? This, he said, is 
the prison of the angels; and here they are kept 
forever.* 

* Revelation w. 1<>. Jude 6. 



244 TREE OP KNOWLEDGE. 

CHAPTER LIU. 

1. Then I looked and turned myself to another 
part of the earth, where I beheld a deep valley 
burning with fire. 

3. And there my eyes beheld the instruments 
which they were making, fetters of iron without 
weight. 

4. Then I inquired of the angel of peace, who 
proceeded with me, saying, For whom are these 
fetters and instruments prepared? 

5. He replied, These are prepared for the 
host of Azazyel, that they may be delivered 
over and adjudged to the lowest condemnation; 
and that their angels may be overwhelmed with 
hurled stones, as the Lord of spirits has com- 
manded. 

6. Michael and Gabriel, Raphael and Phanuel 
shall be strengthened in that day, and shall cast 
them into a furnace of blazing fire, that the Lord 
of spirits may be avenged of them for their crimes; 
because they became ministers of Satan, and 
seduced them who dwell upon the earth. 



THE SIN OF THE ANGBLS. 245 

CHAPTER LXV1. 

4. And they shall confine those angels who dis- 
closed impiety. 

6. And when all this was effected . ... the 
fluid mass of fire .... and the valley of the 
angels who had been guilty of seduction. 

7. Through that valley also rivers of fire were 
flowing, to which those angels shall be condemned, 
who seduced the inhabitants of the earth. 

9. Their spirits shall be full of revelry, that 
they may be judged in their bodies; because they 
have denied the Lord of spirits 

12. Judgment has come upon them, because 
they trusted in their carnal revelry, and denied 
the Lord of spirits. 

CHAPTER LXVII. 

2. At that time holy Michael answered and 
said to Raphael, Tin' severity of the judgment, of 
the secret jm Igment of the angels, who is capable 
of beholding the endurance of that severe judg- 
ment which has taken place and been made perma- 
nent without being melted at the Bight? 



246 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

4. They shall not be before the eye of the Lord; 
since the Lord of spirits has been offended with 
them; for like Lords have they conducted them- 
selves. Therefore will he bring upon them a 
secret judgment for ever and ever. 

5. For neither shall angel nor man receive a 
portion of it ; but they alone shall receive their 
own judgment for ever and ever. 

CHAPTER LXVIII. 

1. After this judgment they shall be astonished 
and irritated ; for it shall be exhibited to the in- 
habitants of the earth. 

2.. Behold the names of those angels. These 
are their names. The first is Samyaza ; the second, 
Aristikapha ; the third Armen, etc., .... the 
twenty-first, Azazyel. 

4. The name of the first is Yekun ; he it was 
who seduced all the sons of the holy angels ; and 
causing them to descend to the earth, led astray 
the offspring of men. 

5. The name of the second is Kesabel, who 
pointed out evil counsel to the sons of the holy 




Plate 26. 



I'm; First Shah 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 249 

angels, and induced them to corrupt their hot lies 
by generating mankind 

G. The name of the third is Gadrel: lie dis- 
covered every stroke of death to the children of 
men. 

7. He seduced Eve ; and discovered to the chil- 
dren of men the instruments of death. 

17. The name of the fifth is Kasyade : he dis- 
covered to the children of men every wicked stroke 
of spirits and demons. 

18. The stroke of the embryo in the womb to 
diminish it ; the stroke of the spirit by the bite of 
the serpent, etc. 

CHAPTER LXXXIII ENOCH'S PRAYER. 

5. The anoels of heaven have transgressed : 
and on mortal flesh shall thy wrath remain till 
the day of the great judgment. 

6. Now then, God, Lord, and mighty King, I 
entreat thee, and beseech thee to grant my prayer, 
that a posterity may be left to me on earth, and 
that the whole human race may not perish. 

A part only of these quotations from Enoch have 



250 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

been known for centuries, while the complete manu- 
script of the book was lost to Europe, the part 
being found in a Greek fragment quoted by Syn- 
cellus. It is generally conceded that Milton's 
ideas were obtained from the book of Enoch, or 
from those floating phrases and names which had 
come down to his day. We are compelled to ad- 
mit that this Sin of the Angels is the most im- 
portant thing in the book, excepting perhaps the 
fragment quoted by Jude. Even this fragment, 
however, was written of the sinning angels and of 
such men as should follow in their evil ways. 
The remarkable resemblance between the quota- 
tions and passages in Jude and Peter have been 
hastily pointed out in our foot notes. We are now 
ready for the sacred Canon again, and in natural 
sequence take up the book of Jude. 

The little book of Jude is a most singular one. 
I do not hesitate to say that most people let it 
alone with the feeling that they do not understand 
it. And yet its language is plain enough, if taken 
in its simple literal sense. The trouble has been 
that few, if any, were prepared to believe the things 



THE SIN OF THE A.NGELS. 251 

which the apostle states, but brushed them aside as jig- 
urea of speech. Now, in the light of what we have 
been considering, let us read it, with simple direct- 
ness, and See what he really says. 

After his address, "to them that are sanctified 
by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, 
and called," he goes on to state the purpose of the 
hook, "that ye should earnestly contend for the 
faith which was once delivered unto the saints." 

Here is a note of alarm, the sound of the bugle 
through the camp. If the bugle blow, it means 
that the enemy is at hand. Then he should say 
something of the approach of the foe. That is 
precisely what he does say in the next place ; and, 
in .saying it, lie gives the reason why this conten- 
tion is needed. 

" For there are certain men crept in unawares, 
who were before of old ordained to this condemna- 
tion." Immediately we ask, What have these 
men done? What is their line of attack? The 
answer is ready: " Ungodly men. turning tlu gr 
of our Godinto lasciviou^ness^ and denying the only 
Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." Re mem- 



252 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

ber what I have written of those who change the 
beautiful marriage figures of Scripture into a 
literal thing, and then think whether such do not 
" turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness V 
Could any description be plainer I 

But was this a new thing in the days of 
Jude ? Read on. " I will, therefore, put you in 
remembrance, though ye once lcneiv this, how that 
the Lord, having saved the people out of the land 
of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed 
not. And the angels which kept not their first 
estate [principality], but left their own habitation, 
he hath reserved in everlasting chains under dark- 
ness unto the judgment of the great day." How 
like to Peter's description this is. Evidently both 
wrote of the same thing. So we have two in- 
spired witnesses. But we now see that Jude has 
compared these " men who had crept in unawares " 
to the " angels that sinned." Manifestly the only 
point of comparison is in the nature of the sin. 
Then does he say what the sin of either was ? If 
he does, we can at once determine the sin of the 
other. Yes, the Apostle expressly describes what 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 253 

the "sin of the angels" was. He says, "Even 
as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them, 
in like manner [to the angels and the men who 
had crept into the church], giving themselves over 
to fornication, and going after strange flesh [other 
flesh], are set forth as an example, suffering the 
vengeance of eternal fire." 

Now there can be no possible mistake about this 
language. Jude certainly declares that the angels 
sinned by committing fornication, and committing 
it with strange flesh ; that is, not with their own 
kind. And he as plainly states that this was what 
the frightful sinners of the cities of the plain did 
also. Lest there should be any doubt about his 
application to the present state of the church he 
proceeds to assert that the men who had crept in 
were doino- this same unutterable thing. Here it 
is in the next verse. 

"Likewise, also, these filthy dreamers defile the 
flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of digni- 
ties." Notice the exact language here ver\ 
closely. He calls the men who had crept in, 
" filthy dreamers." When we remember that most 



254 TREE OP KNOWLEDGE. 

of these awful iniquities are practiced in a sort of 
trance, or " dream," the wording of the Apostle 
becomes doubly significant. # And he expressly 
declares that " they defile the flesh " in the very 
same manner as did the citizens of Sodom and the 
fallen angels. 

Again, in verse 10, he further touches on the 
nature of their sin. " But what they know nat- 
urally as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt 
themselves." Here is a clear statement that the 
thing in which they sinned was the sexual passion. 
And note that they did not find this passion wrong 
in itself, but sinned by " corrupting " it ; that is, 
by using it out of it's place, as the " brute beast " 
never does. Mark this well. 

The next particular is very significant. The 
Apostle says that these " filthy dreamers " have 
"gone in the way of Cain." Did this mean merely 
that some of them were murderers? I think the 
meaning is much deeper than that. Let us re- 
member it. Next they are compared to Balaam, 

* Examples of this can be given by the score, and these "dream- 
ers " are all too ready to teach others how to experience the same. 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 

as in the words of Peter.* Notice that Peter also 
compares them to " natural brute beasts," and 
speaks of the good angels not bringing railing ac- 
cusations against them, just as Jude does. The 
two evidently wrote of the very same thing. 

Hear Jude speak of them, j t ou who may in 
some way be tempted by the adroit solicitation to 
explore deep things, and learn the mysteries. He 
says, " These are spots in } T our feasts of charity, 
when they feast with you, feeding themselves 
without fear; clouds they are without water, car- 
ried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, 
without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 
raging waves of the sea, foaming out of their own 
shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the 
blackness of darkness forever." Header! if any- 
one ever begins to tell you of any possible literal 
interpretation of the marriage figures of the Scrip- 
tures, or to apply them to the physical body in 
any connection whatever with the sex principle, 
/•//// for your life; stay not in all the plain, but escape 
to the mountain! These terrible words of the two 

* Sec page 226. 



256 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Apostles are the most fearful in the whole Bible, 
and they are most unmistakably spoken of those 
who sin in the way of which I am writing. They 
are indeed terrible words, but they are spoken of 
terrible sins; in fact of the most fearful sin possi- 
ble to the race, the sin which crowned the iniquity 
of the antediluvians, the sin which brought, " the 
iniquity of the Amorites to the full," and the sin 
which shall sum up the iniquity of the last days of 
this age in which we live. Is this hasty? No, 
read on. 

We have seen that the book of Enoch records 
that prophet's message to the fallen angels, and 
expressly describes their sin to have been as just 
written. Now, in the next verse, Jude appeals to 
this very book, and quotes the marvelous man, 
who before the flood w 7 alked three long centuries 
with God, as speaking of these very men and angels. 
"And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, proph- 
esied of these [of these men, and Sodomites and 
angels], saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten 
thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon 
all, and to convince all that are ungodly among 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 257 

them of all their ungodly deeds which they have 
ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches 
which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." 
Then Jude again states the nature of the sin by 
saying: " These are murmerers, complainers, walk- 
ing after their own lusts; and their mouth speaking 
great swelling words, having men's persons in ad- 
miration because of ad vantage. " # 

This is certainly a very forcible description of 
the " great swelling words " in which the Esoterics 
and Theosophists seek to clothe their vague ideas. 
The language is often very imposing, but reminds 
me of a stunning fire of blank cartridges, — a tre- 
mendous noise, nothing hit, and ending in gas. 
But in this case, unfortunately, many are poisoned 
by the gas before it is dissipated. Jude does not 
leave the matter here, but goes on to say that this 
same sort of men shall be in the world in the last 
days. 

" But beloved, remember ye the words which 
were spoken before of the Apostles of our Lord 

* I suggest a close study of the original of the last sentence. Perhaps 
it means something deeper and viler than is at first credible. 



258 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Jesus Christ; how that they told you there shall 
be mockers in the last time [and what shall they 
do?] who should walk after their own ungodly 
lusts." But some one objects that this does not 
necessarily mean sexuality. Ah! the Apostle has 
provided for that. " These be they who separate 
themselves, sensual, having not the spirit." Here 
you have a plain description of the evils to which 
I have already alluded, the separation between 
man and woman, but a separation which is not 
really clean, but " sensual," because of the strange 
demon union that is connected with it. And 
hence the word "sensual" is fitly coupled with the 
"separation," indicating the real nature of the 
thing. The promise, given in "great swelling- 
words," is to lead you into "deep mysteries," that 
shall reveal the most valuable truths to the seeker; 
but in order that this search may be effectual, vou 
must " separate " yourselves from many natural 
affections and connections (forbidding to marry, 
etc.), on the ground that these things are too 
worldly and impure. The earnest seeker after the 
highest holiness is thus deluded, and is then ready 




Plate 27. 



Tin Sense of Gi h.t. 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 2G1 

to be taught that the highest union of the spirit 
with the Lord can be made known when those 
other baser affections are set aside. In this dis- 
guise of "an angel of light" the "spirit love" is 
introduced, and the horrible results speedily follow; 
for such " have not the Spirit," that is, the spirit 
they do have is not the spirit of God, but a demon. 
It is well to follow out the marginal references 
connected with Jude 19. Proverbs xviii. 1, says, 
" He that separateth himself seeketh according to 
his desire, and intermeddleth in every business. 
Ezekiel xiv. 6-8 speaks of a man " separating him- 
self from me, and setting up his idols in his heart." 
Hosea iv. 14, says, "I will not punish your daugh- 
ters when they commit whoredom, nor your 
spouses when they commit adultery: for them- 
selves are separated with whores, and they sacri- 
fice with harlots." Hosea ix. 10, reads, "I found 
Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your 
fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at her first 
time; but they went to Baal-peor, and separated 
themselves to that shame; and their abominations 
were according as they loved." Tertullian says 



262 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

(vol. 3, p. 22), " What will the flesh 'lust' after 
except w T hat is more of the flesh? For which rea- 
son, in the beginning, it became estranged from 
the spirit. ' My spirit, saith God, shall not per- 
manently abide in the men eternally, for that they 
are flesh.' " 

These references abundantly connect the actions 
of the men spoken of with the great sin of the 
wilderness — the sin of Baal-peor, the nature of 
which we will further examine in the light of 
Scripture. I call special attention to these dec- 
larations of the Bible, and to the fact that a hasty 
dismissal of them, places the Christian in a very 
inconsistent position. As I said before, most 
readers of the Bible have not been ready to really 
believe what Jude and Peter declare. It has 
seemed so fanciful, so repulsive, so extraordinary, 
and so supernatural that the easiest way has been 
found in that ignoring of these verses altogether 
which has marked the general attitude of the 
church and certainly the knowledge of the average 
member. 

To sum it up: Jude plainly states that in the 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 263 

apostolic age there was great need for watchfulness 
on account of the presence in the church of certain 
men who were turning the grace of God into 
lasciviousness. These men were simply following 
in the footsteps of those who had acted in a simi- 
lar manner shortly after the exodus from Egypt, 
and they all had imitated the example of the 
wicked angels, which angels, the Apostle states, 
were guilty of the very same sins as the people of 
Sodom — the sin of sexual intercourse with "other 
flesh," that is with creatures of another order of 
being.* He declares that those angels, for the ir 
terrible sin, were and are reserved under chains of 
darkness until the final day of judgment, being 
thus set forth as an example to the world. Note 
just here that an example is of no force if those 
who are by it warned cannot possibly follow it. 
There is no occasion to warn me by the sad fate 
of an eagle who attempted to fly across the At- 
lantic Ocean and was drowned, for I cannot fly at 

* The candid reader of Geneuis xix. must admit that the men of 
Sodom actually tried to capture the two angels who came to save Lot. 
and for the expressed purpose of unnatural intercourse with them. It 
was tor this that the citizens were smitten with blindness. 



264 TREE OP KNOWLEDGE. 

all. In the same way the angels who had inter- 
course with human beings can be no possible ex- 
ample of warning to us unless we can attempt to 
imitate their example by seeking intercourse with 
angels. Surely this is the plainest common sense. 
But Jude goes on to say in the most direct 
words that these " filthy dreamers" actually did 
"defile the flesh " in the very same way as did the 
wicked angels ; that this way was by "corrupting" 
the otherwise normal animal passion common to 
men; and that the thing was identical with the 
" way of Cain" and with the error of " Baal-peor," 
as taught by the wicked prophet Balaam to the 
Israelites in the plains of Moab. He then thun- 
ders against the men then living who practiced 
these abominations, comparing them with the 
fallen angels, and consigning them to the same 
punishment, quotes from the book of Enoch — the 
special messenger of God -to the angels, and 
therein declares that such sinners will be found on 
earth at the second advent and be destroyed by the 
Lord at his appearing. In speaking of these latter 
day apostates he uses the significant term " sepa- 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 265 

rate themselves sensual," which term is elsewhere 
employed in designating the sin of Baal-peor, thus 
clearly declaring that this monumental sin shall be 
practiced in the lastdaysof the present dispensation. 
The sin of Baal-peor stands unquestionably at 
the very head of the transgressions in the wilder- 
ness. A careful examination of all the references 
to this iniquity will convince the most skeptical of 
the vast importance attached to it by the Al- 
mighty. Any good commentary or Bible diction- 
ary speaks of the worship of Baal as identical with 
that of the phallus or generative principle. In this 
connection it is well to remember that the afod 
Dagon, the deity of the Philistines, also repre- 
sented the generative principle. In a later 
chapter we discuss fully this worship, and its con- 
nection with the sign of the cross, but call atten- 
tion here to the singular consistency of the pun- 
ishments that were sent upon the Philistines when 
the ark of God was captured by them and placed 
in the temple of Dagon, whose wife was Ater- 
gatis, or Astafte a goddess noted lor the vile 
impurities of her worship. 



266 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

In I. Samuel v. and vi., we find the story of the 
plagues sent on Philistia. The ark had been set 
up before Dagon, who was found upon his face 
the next morning. Being restored to his position, 
and the ark left before him again, in the morning 
he lay upon the threshold with his head and arms 
and hands severed from the trunk and fish's tail 
which terminated his figure. Then the plague of 
the emerods fell upon the people. The ark was 
moved to another place, but the same dreadful 
affliction followed it until the "cry of the city went 
up to heaven." These emerods (hemorrhoids ?) 
were upon the " secret parts" of the Philistines. 
The signification is" too obvious to be slighted. 
They who worshipped a god representing the 
generative organs and the generative principle, 
and who undertook to set this god above Jehovah, 
were thus smitten in those very organs by a terrible 
disease. Josephus says that their sufferings were 
awful, and that thousands died from the plague. 
I mention this to show that Baal-worship meant 
more than a mere superstitious idolatry, and to 
emphasize the references to the great wilderness 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 267 

sin found in both Jude and Peter, and incidentally 
noticed by several of the prophets alwa}^s in such 
severe language. 

Reviewing the parallel passage in II. Peter ii. 
we see that he declares the very same things; 
that in the last days there shall be " false teach- 
ers" whose teaching he distinctly classes with that 
wif Balaam, and with the sin of the angels who are 
cast down into Tartarus until the great judgment, 
and with the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah ; and 
then uses almost the precise language of Jude 
with regard to their character and punishment. 
Even if we did not believe the Bible, all this falls 
into place very consistently with our present study : 
but if we do believe the Scriptures are inspired we 
are simply forced to accept the above plain facts as 
the positive teaching of the book. I again refer 
to the direct statements of the Old Testament that 
not only women but men had "familiar spirits," 
and remind the reader of the awful judgments pro- 
nounced by God against all such persons. 

The whole matter reduces to this: The Bible 
repeatedly declares that women were "mistres 
of demons," and even some men sustained some 



268 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

similar relationship with angelic creatures. God 
Almighty saw fit to exhaust language in denun- 
ciation of this terrific sin, and to assign the most 
severe conceivable punishments as penalties for 
its commission. After all the iniquities of Egypt, 
and the numerous backslidings by the way, the 
special sin which crowned the transgressions of 
the wilderness was that learned from Balaam and 
-the women of Moab, which was identical with the 
" iniquity of the Amorites," for which the latter 
nation was exterminated from the earth ; which 
sin is positively declared by parallel Scripture to 
be the same as that of Sodom and Gomorrah, this 
last being completely identified with the great sin 
of the wicked angels with the women of the ante- 
diluvian age. And finally, we are solemnly 
warned that this awful and mysterious transgres- 
sion shall be repeated in the closing days of the 
present age, and shall be taught as a wonderful 
thing by " ministers of Satan," who come in the 
disguise of " angels of light." # 

* I kindly urge upon the reader, and specially the objector, to 
soberly study this paragraph and the next one, over and over; then an- 
swer the query: Is the Bible true? \ 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 269 

This whole matter is so closely interwoven with 
the very fabric of the Bible that it is difficult to 
see how it can be cut out without destroying the 
entire book. As we will see, it begins in Eden, is 
woven into the life of Cain and the antediluvians, 
stands closely connected with the deluge, reappears 
among the Sodomites and Canaanites, causes the 
destruction of the entire adult race of the exodus, 
exhibits symptoms of its virulence all along the 
history of the kingdom, manifests itself in the 
apostolic church, and is specified as one of the 
great signs of the last days of this age. Surely 
he who attempts to get rid of it must throw away 
his Bible altogether. 

This is the lowest wickedness of which the race 
is capable. As I said before, the worst sins arc not 
wrought in the gutter (in<l the brothel, but under the 
disguise of religion (Did philosophy and metaphysics. 
"Knowledge is power" in any direction, down as well 
as up. Let the reader again remember that these 
are the careful utterances of two of the Apostles, 
and were both written for the last times of the 
age in which we certainly live. A frequenl re- 



270 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

hearsal of these two important facts will prove 
decidedly healthy. A hasty " pooh-pooh " is 
worse than foolish. If you do not believe the 
Bible to be the Word of God, you have some ex- 
cuse ; at least, the excuse of consistency. But if 
you pretend to consider it inspired, be careful that 
you be not included among the " scoffers," # who 
make light of the " promises." Scoffing at the 
plain meaning of God's Word has always been a 
very dangerous thing. 

As a sort of collateral testimony turn to the 
numerous myths of the marriages between the 
gods and women. Remember the story of Jupiter 
and Europa, of Diana and Endymion, of Venus and 
Adonis, and all the host of legends telling of the 
loves of the heathen deities, in which the element 
of a forcible capturing of women by their supernat- 
ural lovers plays so important a part. Then ask 
yourself the question, Whence came these legends? 
It is very certain that every effect must have an 
adequate cause; and it seems that all these stories 
show a remarkable family resemblance. But the 

* II. Peter iii. 4. 




Plate 28. 



Driven Out. 



THE 81 N OF THE ANGELS. 273 

moment we turn to the Bible record, every difficulty 
as to their origin vanishes at once. They evidently 
all flow from the terrible occurrence narrated in 
Genesis, and so elaborately described in the Book 
of Enoch, when the great leaders of the demon 
hosts, " took themselves wives of all which they 
chose." The tendency to keep alive such stories of 
intercourse with the gods was sustained by the 
practice of these abominations, as in the case of 
the Canaan ites. Strange to say, no part of the 
mythologies secures more attention from the aver- 
age reader than the long and varied accounts of 
these unions between the gods and their earthly 
brides, and the feats of strength and other wonders 
performed by their reputed sons, the demigods, 
like Hercules and his kind. S«>, in Genesis, the 
giant offspring were "men of renown." 

It is asserted by many that the official marriage 
of a woman to a demon has been performed often 
in these United States in the last few years. Of 
course the creature was not called a "demon." 
Oh, no, that would be too bald. Il< i was called a 
" spirit lover." Do not shake the head and say it 



274 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

is the raving of a lunatic. Remember Enoch and 
Peter, and Ju.de, and Moses, and Samuel, and 
Isaiah, and Paul. " The word of God standeth 
sure." 

Jude used the singular expression that the 
"filthy dreamers" spoken of by him had "gone in 
the way of Cain." What did this mean? Only 
that they had killed people? The remarkable 
connection seems to point to something more than 
that. It appears to indicate a sin of a similar 
nature connected with Cain. The demons and 
their wives before the flood filled the earth with 
giant offspring, the " mighty men of renown," 
whose monumental srns capped the climax of their 
age. They were all extinguished by the flood, as 
were all the sinful line of Cain. Strangely per- 
sistent efforts have been made by very good men 
to prove that the Nephilim and Rephaim of the 
Mosaic period were the descendants of those ante- 
diluvian giants. Og, king of Bashan, and the 
giants of Philistia have been ingeniously traced 
to supposed ancestors who survived the flood in 
some way. Job xxvi. 5, is quoted to prove this 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. 275 

theory, it being made to read, "Dead things came 
from under the waters." Here it is is said that 
the word, translated, "dead things," is the same 
as the Nephilim or Rephaim spoken of in the 
wilderness campaigns of Moses and Joshua ; and 
it is argued that this again is similar to the word 
for " sons of God " of Genesis vi. 2. Of course, 
all such reasoning flatly denies the express state- 
ments of the Word that " every creature in whose 
nostrils was the breath of life, and every man 
died." But I see in it a remarkable hidden truth, 
viz., that the giant offspring of the antediluvian 
age and the giants of Gath were possibly of the 
same breed, so to speak. And this being so, I am 
at no loss whatever to perceive the perfect justice 
and mercy which decreed the total annihilation of 
the race whose blood was poisoned throughout 
with the spawn of demons. 

Let those who have charged our God with 
cruelty in ordering the extermination of innocent 
babes and helpless women, pause and consider 
what possible sentence could be passed upon a 
race every one of which was ;i veritabh mini of 



276 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

disease for soul and body. If it be cruelty to burn 
up a nest of animals whose entire race are infected 
with the deadliest typhus fever, then it was cruel 
to exterminate the seven nations of Canaan. 
Though it be late in the ages, let this vindication 
of the real loving mercy of our gracious and long- 
suffering God be known by his doubting and 
"apologetic" children. God regarded his people 
and knew what was best for them so well that 
he thoroughly disinfected the house in which he 
placed them. All "germs" have life, but we do 
not generally stop to think that "antiseptics" are 
hard on the germs, do w T e? 

In the light of this relevation we can see why 
the Lord would not permit any intermarriages 
with the heathen nations. Remember that they 
were expressly told .that, "surely they will turn 
away your heart after their gods." I. Kings xi. 2. 
God knew that the seed of sin was in the blood, 
and the result was certain death, moral and spirit- 
ual. The severity of the punishment meted out 
when the man of Israel took the Moabitish princess 
to his tent, and Phinehas, the son of Aaron thrust 



THE SIN OF THE ANGELS. '117 

them both through with his spear, also at once 
drops into place as an example of this same "dis- 
infecting " care over his people. And God's 
special approval of this act of Phinehas is empha- 
sized almost at the end of the sacred canon, when 
Malachi writes that he " did turn many away from 
iniquity. " # This world was made for a race of 
men, not of demons; and the only possible way to 
destroy the disease was to kill all the germs. 
Hence the flood swept away every man, woman, 
and child whose life was tainted with the great sin 
of the age, and the coming flood of fire will do the 
same. 

But those demon leaders were but followers of 
their greater captain. Satan himself outshone 
them all with diabolic luster. They were his imi- 
tators and servants. Come we then to him, with 
the clue we have been following, grown most won- 
derfully as we have pursued the search after the 
truth. But this requires another chapter. 

* Malachi ii. 5, G. 



CHAPTER III. 




Zbc fall of flDan, 



|^UR clew has led us very far back along 
the lines of history. Past the sins of 
the Canaanites, and of Israel in Moab; 
" ( ¥1S| past the sin of the angels, past Enoch, 
y^ who specially preached against them 
for their sin, we have come to Satan himself, the 
old serpent who first deceived our parents in the 
Garden of Eden. Over all the ''wrecks of time''' 
towers this grim and awful personage, against 
whom Michael the archangel did not dare to bring 
a railing accusation. In no spirit of lightness, 
then, I steadily hold on my way when this mighty 
fallen one stands athwart the track. " The Lord 
rebuke thee, Satan," # is the only talisman that gives 



* Jude 9. 



THE FALL OF MAN. 279 

courage to the heart of man when fighting against 
such an adversary. But that Lord has promised 
" to bruise Satan under our feet shortly," and in 
his strength we will go on. 

Who was Satan? To many it will be news to 
hear that the Bible really tells the answer to this 
question. At least it is not generally known that 
his history is written there from the time he was 
first created till the present. But it is true. Let 
us examine it. 

The reader is of course familiar with the terms 
" god of this world," " prince of the powers of the 
air," and " prince of this world." Whence came 
such titles ? I Low did Satan get to be the 
" prince of this world ? " I answer, by conquest. 

He conquered the " Lord of creation/' and 
took his possessions, as all conquerors do. Since 
tlmt time we know a great deal of his history, but 
it is of the period before the fall that we now wish 
to learn. In Ezekiel xxviii. 12-18, is found a 
most remarkable passage. For some ten ven 
the Lord lias spoken against the "Prince of Tv- 
rus.'' Tyre and Sidon were the very seat of the 



280 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

foul worship of Astarte, and her frightfully un- 
clean rites and ceremonies. If there was a place 
on earth where the devil ruled, Tyre was that 
place. So the man who sat on its throne is called 
the "Prince," but the devil himself, who controlled 
that man, is styled in the next verses "the king." 
Let us read them in full . ^ 

"Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the 
king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith 
the Lord God; 

"Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom and 
perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden, the 
garden of God ; every precious stone was thy 
covering ; the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the 
beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the 
emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold ; the work- 
manship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was pre- 
pared in thee in the day that thou was created. 
Thou art the annointed cherub that covereth; and 
I have set thee so.; thou wast upon the holy 
mountain of God ; thou hast walked up and down 

* For a full grasp on the scientific points in this matter, the reader 
must see " Alpha and Omega," where it is presented in detail. 




29. Sim I ph Dkai h. 



THE FALL OF MAX. 283 

in the midst of the stones of fire.' Thou wast 
perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast 
created till iniquity was found in thee. By the 
multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the 
midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned; 
therefore, I will cast thee, as profane, out of the 
mountain of God ; and I will destroy thee, 
covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of 
fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy 
beauty ; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by rea- 
son of thy brightness; I will cast thee to the 
ground ; I will lay thee before kings that they 
may behold thee." 

Turn now to Isaiah xiv. and read the doom 
pronounced upon the king of Babylon, remember- 
ing that the ancient mysteries or abominations 
found their home in Babylon, from whence they 
passed to Pergamos ("where Satan's scat is." Rev- 
elation ii. 13), and thence to Rome, or "Mystery 
Babylon." (Revelation xvii.) 

"Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet 
thee at thy coming ; it stirreth up the dead for 
thee, etc How art thou fallen from 



28 i TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning ! how art 
thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken 
the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I 
will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne 
above the stars of God ; I will sit also upon the 
mount of the congregation, in the sides of the 
north ; # I will ascend above the heights of the 
clouds ; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou 
shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the. 
pit." 

The early Christian fathers, Augustine, Tertul- 
lian, Ambrose, Jerome, and others were of the 
opinion that these words of the two great prophets 
could not refer to any other than Satan himself. 
Jonathan Edwards said, " Lucifer, before his fall, 
was the morning star, the covering cherub, 
the highest and brightest of all creatures." In 
Luke x. 18, Jesus himself said, " I beheld Satan, 
as lightning, fall from heaven." 

For a thoroughly scientific discussion of Satan, 
and the language used by Ezekiel, I must refer 
the reader to my book, " Alpha and Omega, or the 

* See "Alpha and Omega," page 200. 



THE FALL OF MAN. 285 

Birth and Death of the World," a book, after 
which always this present l work should be read. A 
knowledge of the principles therein treated and ex- 
plained is almost essential to a complete grasp of this 
present volume. But for the study before us we 
will accentuate the main points in the descriptions 
of the great archangel given by the prophets. 

He sealed up the sum of wisdom and perfect 
beauty. He has been in Eden in prehistoric days. 
He was the anointed, covering cherub, specially 
set so by the Lord. He was upon the holy moun- 
tain of God. He was perfect in all his ways. 
But iniquity was found in him, because of pride 
arising from his beauty. This pride reached out 
to ascend above all created things, and finally to 
be "like the most High." On this account Luci- 
fer (the light bearer) was cast down to hell, which 
"moved" or trembled to meet him at his coming. 
Truly a wondtously mighty being is here described. 
And well may he and his work be called "the 
mystery of iniquity." Against our first parents 
all his powers were arrayed, for they had suc- 
ceeded him in the rule of this earth, and every 



286 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

jealous faculty was exerted to the utmost to undo 
the work of God, and to bring ruin on the new 
creation. That ruin was accomplished, and the 
first Adam fell before his great antagonist. Let 
us now inquire if any further trace of our clew can 
be discovered in the record of the fall. 

The first thing I notice in the experience of 
Adam and Eve after their sin was a sense of 
shame connected with the sexual organs of the 
body. Why was this? Those parts were no less 
honorable than the others. Why should the 
secret of life itself have any shame attached to it? 
There must be found adequate cause. There is a 
reason in all things. "God had commanded them 
to increase and multiply. Why, then, should 
shame have been located there? Trifling over 
this will not do. There is a scientific reason as 
sure as God lives and works by law. 

Fig-leaf aprons were made and worn. Again I 
relentlessly ask, why? Why not dress other parts 
of the body? Remember that these two beings 
w T ere utterly unacquainted with the educated pro- 
prieties of our experience. They had been abso- 



THE FALL OF MAN, 287 



lutely innocent and ignorant of sin, not knowing- 
even what wrong was. All things had been law- 
ful and right to them. They were man and wife, 
and they were alone. No other human beings 
saw them. Under the vaporous greenhouse roof 
of the Edenic age,* they had no need of clothing 
for comfort, and nobody had told them of its uses 
nor of any shame. Even God himself asked 
promptly, ''Who told thee that thou wast naked?" 
And if conscious of nakedness, why did the cover- 
ing of a small portion of the body satisfy that 
sliame? These questions are perfectly and rigor- 
ously logical and reasonable. Effect must have 
adequate cause. No superstition will answer 
here, standing as we do at the very portals of the 
greatest cataclysm the world has ever known. 

Notice the words, even in the English. They 
"knew" they were naked. A little later we read 
that "Adam knew Eve his wife," etc. Why thai 
word? Looking backward through the ages, the 
Apostle Paul, in consideration again of the vexed 
question of woman's proper subjection to her hus- 

* See " Alpha and On 



288 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

band, says : " And Adam was not deceived, but 
the woman was deceived, being in the transgres- 
sion. Nevertheless she shall be saved in child- 
bearing if they continue in faith, charity, and 
holiness with sobriety." I. Timothy ii. 14, 15. 
Why this special joining of the woman's trans- 
gression with ehildbearingf 

In proper sequence, we thus reach the curse. 
First came the sentence on the serpent. He had 
done something very, very evil. " Because thou 
hast done this," said God, " on thy belly shalt 
thou go, and dust shalt thou eat." The beautiful 
creature must henceforth crawl at length, hiding 
his body in the dust, and, without a hand or paw 
to assist, must take his food from the earth, soiled 
and covered with whatever came in contact with 
it. But see ! "And I will put enmity between 
thee and the woman, and between thy seed 
and her seed ; it shall bruise thy head, and 
thou shalt bruise his heel." Why between the 
serpent and the "woman"? Had not Adam 
also fallen 1 Why this coupling of the " seed " 
of the woman with the working out of the curse \ 




Plate 30. 



Tin, Fall <t Sodom. 



THE FALL OF MAX. 291 

These are profound questions. Ponder them 
deeply. 

Then to the woman : " I will greatly multiply 
thy sorrow and thy conception." Why was this 
selected ? Did God arbitrarily pick out this 
bodily function for the operation of the curse 1 Or 
was there some reasonable connection ? I insist 
that God has a reason for everything he does, and that 
that reason is always strictly and truly scientific. " In 
sorrow thou shalt bring forth children." Here the 
same questions are pertinent. But now comes a 
matter of tremendous import. " Thy desire shall 
be to thy husband, and he shall bear rule over 
thee." 

Ah ! what does this mean ? Here we have the 
startling difference between the human species 
and the brute creation. And again I press the 
searching query, why the joining of the curse to 
the desire subjected to the husband \ No other 
appetite is so bound. The female among the 
brutes is not so "subject." Just the reverse. 
The male follows her in the matter of desire. 
At the risk of seeming repetitious, I say again, 



292 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

every effect must have an adequate cause. (And 
I assert here that such cause can be found alone 
in the fact that the sin was connected with the 
^/sexual appetite in some way) God is a God of 
reason. The "desire" was all right. God's 
special selection of the marriage figure all through 
the Bible shows how perfectly pure and holy it 
can be, when it is as he made it. God had com- 
manded them to multiply, but they had not yet 
done so. Why 1 

Another vital point has now been reached. The 
brute creation answers the last question. Their 
"season " had not come. "To the word and the 
testimony " and you will find this proved beyond 
a peradventure. The very language of the curse 
clearly declares a reversal of conditions. And, if 
the curse inaugurated a reversal, then before the 
curse things were otherwise. Is this not unde- 
niable ? But the curse said to the woman, " thy 
desire shall be to thy husband." Then, by all the 
rules of sense and logic, before the curse her de- 
sire was not to her husband, but was independent, 
as in the case of the animals. Therefore woman, 



I^cL^a^c^JL a 



THE FALL OF MAX. 293 

before the fall, bad a " season " like the rest of 
the animal world. If there be any flaw in that 
logic, let it be pointed out. 

John says, " Cain was of that wicked one, and 
slew his brother." He also wrote the words, 
" Beloved, we are of God, and the whole world 
lieth in the wicked one." Jesus said to the Phar- 
isees, " Ye are of your father, the Devil [Diabo- 
lus] and the lusts of your father ye do." Will 
this help us to understand why Jude says the 
"filthy dreamers" who had crept into the church, 
had " gone in the way of Cain ? " 



CHAPTEK IV. 




Wbat 10 tbe "Carnal flMnfc"* 

ATAN is an angel. Angels are inva- 
riably represented as male. There is 
a great deal of unsupported theory 
abroad concerning a dual nature in the 
angels, seeking to base itself upon the 
words of Jesus, "In the resurrection they neither 
marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the 
angels." But this bare statement of the Lord is 
wholly without explanatory passages, and we can 
make nothing certain out of it. Meanwhile we 
are very sure that all the angels mentioned in 
the Bible are classed as masculine. 

Satan hated man, and left no stone unturned in 
his search for some way to accomplish his over- 

* A chapter for the special study of theologians. 



WHAT IS THE " CARNAL MIND." 295 

throw. In trying the weak points in man's armor 
he was guided by a previous study of the brute 
creation which had antedated man's arrival upon 
the scene. (Here the archangel had observed the 
power of the physical appetites, and could not fail 
to see that the sexual appetite was the strongest. 
There was no use in wasting time looking for 
something wrong for man to do, for all .things 
were his, and all things were lawful. Satan knew 
full well that the only possible way for a perfect 
being to sin # was to use some right thing in a 
wrong way or at a wrong time. He also know 
that a temptation was no temptation unless it 
appealed to some desire, strongly felt by the 
tempted one. He had nothing to offer Adam, 
for Adam already owned all that there was. He 
had himself sinned by the undue working of pride 
because of his own transcendent beauty. But be- 
ing acquainted with evil, he probably regarded 
that manner of temptation as too slow, or as inferior 
to an appeal to a strong natural desire. This is 
proven by the temptation of the second Adam. 

* Except by originating pride, Eta Lucifer himself had done* 



296 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Hungry from his forty clays' fast, he was solicited 
to make bread to satisfy his hunger. Of course 
the natural and proper feeling of hunger responded 
to the suggestion, and undoubtedly Christ felt 
hungrier. A little later he made bread enough 
to feed five thousand men; but then He refused. 
Why ? Simply ^because it would have been sin to 
have done so at the suggestion of Satan, when 
that suggestion was poisoned by the doubt, " If 
thou be the Son of God." That was the way 
Satan approached Eve, with a doubt of God's 
word: " Yea, hath God said V Are you sure He 
meant what He said ? The way in which all 
" higher criticism " invariably begins. 

Beyond controversy the second Adam stood, 
exactly where the first Adam fell. But the temp- 
tation of the former was addressed to a proper 
physical appetite, and pointed with a doubt. 
Therefore the temptation of the latter must have 
been addressed to a physical appetite also. We 
know it was pointed with a doubt, so the analogy 
is perfect. But some one will object that the ap- 
petite addressed in the case of Eve was that of 



297 

hunger, and not the sexual. I answer that such 
a thought is absolutely barred out of the premises^ 
It is impossible that Adam and Eve were ever 
violently hungry. Perhaps you never thought of 
that, but it must be true. Remember that they 
were physically immortal; that is they knew no 
decay of tissue at the time of the temptation. 
They had not begun to die, because the evil actin- 
ism of the solar ray had not penetrated the over- 
hanging vapors, # and consequently had not known 
decay. It is therefore certain that they could not 
know hunger in the imperious sense. Hence the 
appeal to this appetite could not be expected to 
meet with much response. The element of pride 
was undoubtedly included; but this cannot be the 
only thing involved on account of the parallelism 
between the temptation and that of the Saviour. 
His was certainly physical. Then so was Eve's. 
She had no reason to fast forty days as Jesus did, 
so there is absolutely no room for tin- supposition 
that hunger was the basis of the appeal in her 
case. The element of pride, which I have allowed, 

* See "Alpha and Omega." 



298 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

could not have been very strong; and the same 
may be said of the mere desire for extra knowledge. 
We cannot imagine that this was anything more 
than a curious wish. I insist that temptation 
must meet with some strong response to have any 
power whatever. And it is plain that Satan 
would not select a strong point to attack when a 
weaker was ready to his hand. His nature has 
certainly changed very much in six thousand 
years if he ever did such a thing. 

As has been remarked, Satan had had plenty of 
time to see the working of the sexual appetite in 
the case of the animals; for they had been in- 
creasing and multiplying for a long time before 
man appeared upon the scene. [But n©w r a female 
comes to Adam; and as the female always leads 
the male in the sex relation, in the animal crea- 
tion, Satan shrewdly guessed that through this 
appetite was the most likely road to success, espe- 
cially if he could secure the co-operation of the 
femalaV Remember, the real object of attack was 
Adam, and not Eve. No matter whether our 
sisters like it or not, the fact is absolutely beyond 



WHAT IS THE "CARNAL MIND." 209 

dispute, man was the head of creation, and woman 
was but a "help suitable for him." There cannot 
be a particle of doubt that if Adam had resisted 
the temptation offered him by his wife, she would 
have perished, and probably another " helpmeet " 
been found. Certainly the creation would not 
have shared her fate, it would have stood with 
Adam. Satan knew this perfectly, and therefore, 
like the skillful general he is, made an indirect 
attack, adopting the tactics of seeking to obtain 
an ally in the camp. And in this he succeeded, 
only too well. 

God's command to "increase and multiply" had 
not as yet been obeyed. Reason will be sought 
in vain outside of the fact that Eve's "season" had 
not come around.* Watching its approach, Satan 
drew near, and tempted her slightly in advance. 
Remember the temptation to the second Adam 
was to gratify a normal, proper appetite in advance 
of the proper time and means; and also remember 



* For the scientific discussion as to why it had not come, sec "Alpha and 
Omega." It may he said here, however, that seed forming probably depends 
upon the operation of decay, and, of course, decay had not begun until just 
before the time <>f the Bcene In Eden. 



300 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

that thus only can a perfect being be solicited to 
sin. It probably never occurred to you that Eve 
could not possibly know all about the forbidden 
tree and its fruit. But she certainly could not. 
Sin is an experience; that is, the knowledge of sin 
is. Unfallen angels know nothing of sin. They 
see and deplore its effects, but they do not know 
it. So Satan told the truth when he said, " Ye 
shall know good and evil." They only knew good. 
They knew absolutely nothing of evil. God had 
said they must not know this very thing. " The 
tree of the knowledge of good and evil ! " They 
did know the good — the first half; but they did 
not know the " evil"" — the second half. There- 
fore, what they were forbidden was the knowl- 
edge of evil, or the distinction and difference be- 
tween the two. As they knew nothing whatever 
about evil, it was impossible that this suggestion 
could have any soliciting power unless it entered 
the mind reinforced by the appeal of a powerful 
appetite in a state of excitement. Surely this is 
beyond dispute. 

Hence I conclude that Satan found our first 





- 1 


..-■' 

di ! j 


■Ft jEH^'-. 5 ' &w^&^''*$ m ';IH 










l^mt. ^PSu^l 



'late 31. 



The Strong M \i>r. \\ i ak. 



303 

mother in the rising fever of her first " season," 
and seized the opportunity to tempt her to indul- 
gence with himself. He could not take her by 
force, as his lieutenants did the wicked daughters 
of the apostate race, just before the flood. Her 
will must be captured. So the temptation was 
gradual, and disguised under the promise of bene- 
fit of " deep knowledge of mysteries." (How like 
his mode of approach to-day.) Very likely unnat- 
ural excitation was used to urge the organism un- 
accustomed to the spur of unbalanced conditions, 
to the desirable state.* In this, the will of the 
tempted woman took part, and thus the surrender 
was complete. What is impossible for the instinct- 
guarded brute, is all too possible for the reasoning 
human, and the battle was won. fSatan cohabited 
with Eve, teaching her how to secure pleasure 
when the natural time had not fully comSfl .And 
this knowledge, and this practice she communi- 
cated to her husband^ Tradition has always held 
that Adam partook of the fruit through Ins in- 

ua originating that terrible evil that coraes so large a part <>t the 
race, — the habit of sell abuse, the appalling effects o\ which are bo well 
known to medical men. 



304 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

tense love for his wife ; that rather than submit to 
final separation, he chose to share her fall. I 
opine that this tradition has more truth than has 
been supposed, but in a different form from the 
common idea. (Through the tremendous pull of 
the sexual appetite, aroused by the excited state 
of the woman, he also felt the power of a solicita- 
tion addressed to a strong natural desire, and 
yielded, just as she had donaV 

I call the scientific mind to consider that it was 
not possible for Adam to be tempted before Eve 
on this line. He had no season. Males never do. 
In his perfectly balanced physical condition, free 
from all trace or taint of the diseased appetites we 
inherit, he knew no special desire until it was 
aroused in the way God had intended, viz., by 
the presence of desire in the woman. Hence, the 
only way to approach the pair through this strong- 
est appetite implanted in their constitutions, was to 
go to the woman first, and through her to solicit 
the man. Thus, she who was made to be a help- 
meet for the man, by this strategem of the arch ad- 
versary, became first the helpmeet of Satan. (Per- 



WHAT IS THE "CARNAL MIND." 305 

haps it is not altogether fanciful to see in the old 
feudal custom for the lord of the manor to take to 
his bed on her marriage night every girl in his do- 
main, before she was given to her husband, a sug- 
gestion of the original victory of the father of all 
"fleshly lusts that war against the soul?) 

But I bring forward another analogy. This 
function was the one appointed by the Creator to 
propagate the species. ^So Satan selected it as that 
through which to destroy the race. God said it 
was to be used to perpetuate life. Satan twisted 
it into the means of perpetuating death. The very 
thing God had made to give life through a seed, 
was turned to hand down death through the same. 
Hence Satan and his hosts rejoiced, for God 
seemed to be defeated at the very outset. But 
right here comes in the real force of the primal 
promise, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the 
serpent's head.'! The very thing which Satan was 
congratulating himself bad been turned to bis per- 
petual victory was to be the moans of briuging 
about his final destruction. He thought lie bad 
everlastingly poisoned the seed at its fountain- 



306 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

head, and that scientifically it never could be any 
better. But God steps in and declares that even 4 
that scientific .impossibility is not impossible with 
the Almighty, but that on the contrary, the very 
seed should be the agent to overcome the victor 
of Eden. Truly, God "maketh the wrath of man 
to praise him; and the remainder of wrath he doth 
restrain." Our God is he who can and does wrest 
the most perfect victory out of the very jaws of 
utter defeat. And He seems to take pleasure in 
showing His infinite power by using the most im- 
portant elements of the failure to constitute the 
success. 

I said Satan supposed he had poisoned the seed 
at the fountainhead, and that it never could be 
any better. This calls up a very important point. 
Many breeders of stock declare that the first off- 
spring of a female seems to impart its quality to 
all that may come after. For example, they 
claim that if a mare be served to an ass, and bear 
a mule foal, and then afterward be served to a 
horse, and bear horse colts, the latter will always 
show a streak of mule in them. Some probably 



WHAT IS THE " CARNAL MIND." 3Q7 

oppose this conclusion, but the belief in it is wide- 
spread. The thought suggested is this: After 
the fall, we read that, "Adam knew Eve, his wife, 
and she conceived and bare Cain, and said I have 
gotten a man from the Lord." But she was 
fallen and blinded by sin. (Cain was not from the 
Lord at all, but from Satair> John says, "Cain 
was of that evil one./H Whether Cain was the 
actual progeny of Satan, or whether he was 
merely the recipient of the full force of the 
poisonous seed of the adversary, is not a matter for 
dogmatism. I strongly incline to the belief that 
he was. the actual son of SataiiN Certain is it 
that he "was of that wicked one." The word of 
the Lord is foundation enough for me. I know 
no court of appeal after "Thus saith the Lord." 
It may be that the seed was not actually ener- 
gized until Adam "knew his wife"; but I see no 
reason to conclude thus when it is certain that 
centuries later the angels had offspring by the 
women of the time. # They were simply imita- 

* On this point, see my " Alpha and Omega " in relation to the mat- 
ter of producing seed before the fall. As the actual ripening and b 

mi: of seed in plant CT animal been slow under the ilim 



308 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

tors of their great leader. (At all events, the 
firstborn child was infected by the seed of the 
devil. 

And therefore, in perfect scientific causation, 
every subsequent child of the race has been in- 
fected also. The "streak of the mule" is in all 
the sons of men. 

Do not laugh at this ; it is too serious a matter. 
Effects must have a cause. Here is the sinful na- 
ture. £lt is certainly transmitted from father to 
son. I But how ? The truth is always perfectly 
scientific. Only our bungling attempts to explain 
things from wrong premises are not so. The 
moment we find the proper key, all the wards of 
the most complicated lock drop into place, and 
the door swings wide open. " Everything is easy 
when you know how," as the boys say. 

light of the previous ages, so it is thinkable that in the case of Eve, 
under the perfectly balanced environment of the Edenic period, the con- 
ception from Satan was not developed until the change of climate that 
followed, and the entrance of decay, together with the excitation of in- 
tercourse with Adam, brought about that development. Before this, 
she had been like the trees of Genesis i. 2., "whose seed was in it- 
self." The germ had simply slumbered. The resurrection will bring 
the time when marriage ceases. There is a thought here. Will the 
seed be "in itself " once more in that complete life? 



WHAT is THE "CARNAL MIND. •'> 1 I 

Why did God lay so much stress upon the con- 
secration to Him of " all that openetb the ma- 
trix ? " Why did he say, "All the first-born of 
thy sons thou shalt redeem ? " (Exodus xxxiv. 20.) 
Who will sa} T , in the light of these solemn facts, 
that this was not a type of the principle we are 
discussing 1 Why redeem the firstborn '. Be- 
cause the state of the firstborn bespeaks the same 
state for all subsequent births. God meant to 
write the story of redemption everywhere. And 
He has done it. In letters of inflexible science I 
see it written in these laws of Moses, and trace 
the perfect analogies back to the first great 
promise of the seed who was to be and has be- 
come the "Firstborn from the dead." He was 
"redeemed with a Lamb," even with himself, the 
Lamb of God. And thus He bespeaks the same 
glorious state for us, who, by the power of grace 
divine, are " born again of water and of the 
Spirit." 

What tremendous import can be seen in the 
"figure" of the "new birth!" In this heaven- 
sent light, it ceases to be a " figure," and blazes 



312 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

before our astonished eyes as a reality, a scientific 
fact. QWe were "conceived in sin" sure enough^) 
No figure about it. And we "must be born 
again " actually and positively, and be born re- 
deemed at that — redeemed by the Lamb that 
was slain to be our propitiation. Even as in us 
the spirit of evil has conceived the sin, so the 
Holy Spirit must bring forth the divine life 
within us, and "Christ be formed in us — the 
hope of glory." 

Types are all very well, but stop long enough 
to think that there cannot be a type without the 
thing typified. You must have the literal, or the 
spiritual can have no tangible existence. Figures 
cannot be made from nothing. Shadows do not 
cast themselves. God said, li Sanctify unto me all 
the firstborn; whatsoever openeth the womb among 
the children of Israel, both of man and of beast, 
it is mine." # " Behold, I have taken the Levites 
from among the children of Israel instead of all 
the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the 
children of Israel ; therefore, the Levites shall be 

* Exodus xiii. 2. 



AVHAT IS THE " CARNAL MIND. 313 

mine; because all the firstborn are mine; for, on 
the day that I smote all the firstborn in the hind 
of Egypt, I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in 
Israel, both man and beast ; mine shall they be ; 
I am the Lord."* " The firstborn of man shalt 
thou surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean 
beasts shalt thou redeem."! 

All Bible students agree that Pharoah was a 
type of the " prince of this world." In smiting 
his firstborn, and the firstborn of all his people, 
God typically declared the fate of the "seed of 
the adversary." And in redeeming all the first- 
born of Israel, he as plainly declared the scheme 
of salvation to the race. Cain, the firstborn of 
sin, killed his brother. Christ, the "firstborn of 
God," saves his brothers. God neglects no 
analogy, parallel, or type. All is perfectly har- 
monious, wherever we turn. The Levites — the 
priests — were taken instead of the firstborn of 
Israel. So Christ — the priest after the order 
Melchisedek — is taken for us all. The clean 
beasts (cow, sheep, and goat) were not redeemed. 

Numbers iii. 1*J, L3. t Number> win !."• 



314 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

So clean men, were there any such, need no re- 
demption. " Christ came not to call the righteous, 
but sinners to repentance," and " to seek and save 
the lost" only. 

Eve thought her firstborn was " from the 
Lord." Multitudes of her descendants have 
made the mistake of supposing that the carnal 
mind, the firstborn nature in us, is from the 
Lord ; that we are so created of God, and can- 
not get rid of this incubus until death. I think 
that there is no objection to this, always pro- 
vided that we are correct in our definition of 
the "carnal mind." It is the purpose of this 
chapter to give a" new definition, and one which 
I believe will at once remove most of the end- 
less debates on this disputed subject from the 
field of polemics. I have long been of the opin- 
ion that there is a widespread confusion of ideas 
on this topic; and of late have arrived at the 
conclusion that very much of the fighting has 
been about things differently understood by the 
combatants. Being in the front rank of this con- 
troversy for over a dozen years, I feel qualified to 



WHAT IS THE "CARNAL MIND." 315 

speak with knowledge, if not with authority. Let 
us essay a primary definition. 

(The " carnal mind" is the fallen, si n Jul disposi- 
tion, or tendency m maiui 

I think no one will object to this. But just 
here I call attention to the fact that this dispo- 
sition, or tendency, resides in two distinct places 
— the will, and the physical inclinations or appe- 
tites. Here is the great point that is almost en- 
tirely overlooked in the discussions on this subject: 
and just here is the key to a reasonable solution 
of the difficulty. This "carnal mind" is the 
actual poison of the serpent ; it is Satan's seed in 
the captured race, scientifically transmitted. But 
remember, it is in two places. It is not all in the 
will ; nor is it all in the physical body. It resides 
in both. We are spiritually dead in sin, and men- 
tally and physically dying from the poison infused 
by the serpent # 

But faith in Jesus is exercised; faith in "the 
seed of the woman who has bruised the serpent's 

* Our environment of course plays an important part in the physi- 
cal decay. For this see "Alpha and Omega." 



316 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

head ;" and the spiritual part is created new; it is 
" born again, of water and of the Spirit/' and 
" redeemed by a Lamb" — the Lamb of God. 
Yet the "carnal mind" remains, and " the flesh 
lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against 
the flesh," more or less, as temptation's waves rise 
and fall about the soul. 

In this dilemma the command of God sounds 
out from Old and New Testaments to press on 
into Canaan, to destroy the Amalekitish " flesh," 
to be " sanctified wholly," and directs us to bring 
this about by " presenting our bodies a living sac- 
rifice unto God," remembering that "the altar 
sanctifieth the gift?' The sentence of death and 
total crucifixion and removal stands against the 
"old man," and he is to be "put off" just as positively 
and as literally as "his deeds." And as all things 
are received by faith we are exhorted to "reckon 
ourselves to be dead indeed [not make believe] 
unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ 
our Lord." # 

Just here the split has occurred between the 

* Romans vi. 11. 



WHAT 18 THE " CARNAL MIND." 317 

two important schools. Feeling the presence in 
the body of the tendency towards indulgence, the 
one division contend that this reckoning is not a 
real death, but only a reckoning, i. e., a making 
believe. But the other side stoutly maintain that 
the death is real, that it is "dead indeed," as the 
text plainly declares. And at this disputed 
point I hope to present a satisfactory solution 
that will be apprehended as reasonable by both 
sides. 

We all ao-ree that nothing but an actual death 
will get us rid of "sin in the flesh/' The sinning 
part or principle must die. The law is absolutely 
inexorable. " The soul that sinneth, it shall die." 
There is no escape, and no other remedy. The 
only way to get rid of germs, is to burn them up. 
Now, remembering that the carnal mind resides 
in the will, as well as the body, I think we can 
agree that, by the grace and power of God the 
will may be set free entirely from its poison. Cer- 
tainly a man, who has been "born again," can 
come to the point of presenting himself, with all 
his plans and purposes, his likes and dislikes, his 



318 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

possessions and his reputation, in one final offering 
on God's altar. In other words, he can consecrate 
his whole will to God. And beyond doubt, God 
stands ready to accept such an offering, and "sanc- 
tify it wholly " by the blood of the everlasting 
covenant, applied by the Spirit .of Grace. This 
done, and the work of the Holy Ghost received by 
faith (" sanctified by the faith that is in, me ") what 
has become of the carnal mind, at least so far as 
the will is concerned ? It is certainly burned up 
by the fire of the Holy Ghost, and the heart is 
made "pure." 

But I submit that this sanctification has not 
removed the poisoned, fallen tendency from the 
physical body. Here is a vital distinction, the 
neglecting of which has led to the bulk of the dis- 
pute. The appetite for food in a sanctified Chris- 
tian, still has to be watched, or it will incline to- 
wards undue gratification. And so with every 
appetite we possess. These appetites are blind ; 
they are unreasoning; they are instinctive.]) And 
being fallen, being thoroughly off their bal- 
ance since the fall, and while the present environ- 




Plate 33. 



The !l< 



321 

ment prevails* they constantly tend towards ex- 
cess. Now what remedy is at hand ? 

On this Paul speaks, " I keep under my body, 
and bring it into subjection. "t Who is the " I " 
that keeps it under % Evidently the will. And 
to what is the body brought into subjection ? To 
the same. When Paul was sanctified, and his 
heart was " purified by faith " the carnality was 
destroyed (Romans vi. G) from his will, but not 
from his physical flesh. Grasp this distinction 
fully. It is of absolute importance. And for this 
perfect riddance in the body, Paul, and the " whole 
creation groaned and travailed." 

On this part of the subject those who advocate 
the "two natures" are right. We cannot get rid 
of the carnality, or unbalance in the physical flesh 
until the resurrection, when this " vile body " (body 
of low estate) will be changed. The evil of antici- 
pating the Millennium, of which I have spoken. 
has perhaps to some extent influenced the more 
extreme advocates of "holiness" on this point. 
But we can, and must get rid of carnality in the 

* See "Alpha and Omega." Corinthians i.\. 27. 



322 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

will in this life. The present "will of God" is 
" our sanctification," and if our wills refuse to 
meet his will, we of course remain un sanctified. 

The beast does not have to keep the body un- 
der. His instinct manages that for him, because 
his nature is not fallen as is ours. He shares in 
the death (physical) of the age, as did men who 
had not the law (Romans v. 14), but knows no 
sin. But our bodies are actually and scientifically 
tainted and poisoned with sin, and unbalanced in 
all their functions, and this continues after the 
spirit is sanctified wholly, requiring to be rigidly 
kept under by the will all the days of our life. 

No wholly sanctified woman has a season for 
her sexual appetite. Things continue as they 
were in this matter. This at once answers the 
much-mooted question as to how the child of 
wholly sanctified parents can have a carnal mind 
like the child of unsaved sinners. Remember 
that the new birth of the spirit is an original 
creation each time it takes place. It is not and 
cannot be transmitted by natural generation, for 
it is not natural in any sense of that word. But 



WHAT IS THE "CARNAL MIND.' 

the carnality is natural, and is subject to the 
rigorous laws of physical transmission expressed 
bv the original enactment, "after his kind." The 
will — the spirit— of the wholly sanctified parents 
is perfectly pure as they "walk. in the light" and 
are kept clean by the blood. But the physical 
body is not pure, as Adam's was; and will not be 
till the resurrect ion. That is the very tiling that 
is reserved for that greatest future day. "To be 
clothed upon !"* How it excited the longing of the 
Apostle. And how we all reach out for it. But 
let us not anticipate. A baby is born innocent, 
but not balanced. It is born savable, but not 
saved. There is no new heart in it. As it grows 
the unbalance prevails, sin rests in it, and it " must 
be born again." 

On this point I am afraid that many who advo- 
cate "Divine healing" are overstepping the truth. 
God heals the sick I know it, for my heait 
disease that defied all medical aid for seven Ion- 
years cannot now be even traced by the mosl 
skillful physician. But God does not run ahead 

* II. ( '.tiii t hi his v. '_'. 



324 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

of his own laws and his own express declarations. 
While we are in the bodily flesh we retain our 
physical unbalance. No use for any son of man 
to claim otherwise. Our appetites and passions 
must be kept continually under (in their proper 
place and time, which they all have) by the sanc- 
tified will. And for this God always supplies the 
power, as we look to him. The ''whole spirit, 
soul, and body may be preserved blameless," for 
blame is only imputed where there is law, and at 
present there is no law or means provided for a 
perfect body ; but we are only to be presented 
•'faultless" on the resurrection day. # 

The sexual appetite is the one which specially 
concerns the propagation of the species, hence it 
affects all the other appetites of the body. The 
poison is there, and cannot be taken out but by 
the death of the organism. " Except a corn of 
wheat fall into the ground and die, it remaineth 
alone." In the moment of death God steps in and 
works the miracle of life, fresh from his hand. In 
the spirit this is done now. In the body it will 

* See Jude 24, and I. Thessalonians v. 23. 



WHAT IS THE " CARNAL MIND. 325 

be done at the resurrection. When the soul is 
ready to die to self, God makes the thing real, 
and destroys the " body of sin " by the fiery breath 
of the spirit. But this death has to precede the 
life, be it by but a moment of time. Just so the 
physical body must die to its old life before it can 
be "clothed upon" with immortality, and, "this 
mortal will put on immortality " "in a moment, in 
the twinkling of an eye," but it must be after the 
necessary death. 

Thus it is that God breaks the power of death, 
and destroys its sting. Death itself is actually 
made, in a sense, the portal of life. At least it is 

the necessarv antecedent condition. It is not a 

%/ 

friend; it is never the sanctijier; no, no! God sanc- 
tifies the soul now through faith, and gives the 
" earnest of our inheritance." And he holds out 
the promise that the "groaning creation" .shall 
soon be satisfied, when at the resurrection, we 
" awake in his likeness." Then "death, the last 
enemy, shall be destroyed," but not till then. 
Tims Paul declares it, "Then shall be brought fco 
pass the saying that is written, Death is swal- 



326 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

lowed up in victory." When is this to be? 
" When this corruptible has put on incorruption, 
and this mortal has put on immortality." 

There is another point of the greatest impor- 
tance. " Sin is not imputed where there is no 
law." # That is, God does not hold us responsibly 
guilty for being in a state which we cannot help, 
and out of which he has made no present mode of 
escape. If there be no such thing as what Paul 
calls " sanctified wholly " possible to us, then we 
are not guilty or to blame because we are not 
sanctified wholly. If it be impossible for any man 
to have all sin cleansed from his heart (or will) in 
this life, then nobody is to blame for having sin in 
the heart. If God has made no law for the spe- 
cial case, then that case goes free. That is all 
there is about it. It is astonishing that such a 
simple axiomatic truth should not be apprehended 
without argument. We are not to blame for hav- 
ing a carnal mind, for we were born so, without 
being consulted in the matter. We were simply 
put here with the tendency in us. The instinct 

* Romans v. 13. 






WHAT IS THE "CARNAL MIND. 327 

of common justice tells every man lie cannot be 
held responsible for his own height, or color, or 
natural gifts. The man who has two talents is 
not expected to make five. The born cripple is 
not asked to race with the perfect athlete. So 
God holds no man responsible for Adam's sin, and 
no man was ever damned for what he absolutely 
could not help. The reverse inference in man- 
made theologies has manufactured a great many 
infidels. No man is guilty because he docs not 
make a new heart in himself. He cannot do it. 
No use to try. 

But we are responsible for the use we have 
made of the "way of escape" God has provided. 
The now heart is offered to us freely. Will we 
accept? (if not we die in our sins, not Adam's. yj In 
precisely the same manner the question oi' the 
"carnal mind " must be treated if we wish to avoid 
hopeless confusion and inconsistency. We cannot 
help having it, nor can we rid ourselves of it. 
But God "requires us to love Him with all our 
heart" (not with a part). If we are unable to do 

* Join. \ : . 2 I. 



328 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

so, and if God has provided no present means, then 
the command is a farce and its disobedience a neces- 
sity. But to make sin a necessity, is to make it 
no sin at all; not in any responsible sense. It 
may be uncleanness, viewed from the absolute 
standpoint ; but there is no responsibility, or per- 
sonal guilt attached. Black is black; it can nevrer 
be white or blue or gray; but the African carries 
not the smallest particle of guilt on account of his 
color. Notwithstanding he is black, and only a 
miracle can make him white. 

What then can we do? Avail ourselves of the 
" way of escape " that has been provided. . God 
promised ages ago, " And the Lord thy God will 
circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, 
to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
and with all thy soul (not when you die, but) 
that thou mayst live." Deuteronomy xxx. 6. 
" And I will put my spirit within you, and cause 
you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my 
judgments and do them." Ezekiel xxxvi. 27. 
If then we " reckon ourselves also to be dead in- 
deed unto sin, and alive unto God through Jesus 



Mi 




Plate 34. 



if Remorse, 



. 



WHAT IS THE "CARNAL MIND." 331 

Christ our Lord," the Lord accepts the sacrifice 
on the altar; the " altar sanctifieth the gift," and 
the 'Holy Ghost comes in fire to make bis abode 
in the soul. The will is set free from self, and 
wholly given to God. Certainly this will not be 
disputed by anyone. 

But the body still contains the seeds of death 
and of decay. The state of unbalance, the ten- 
dency towards indulgence, the carnal mind in the 
literal flesh, still remains. It is not worth while 
debating with the exceptional fanatic who would 
contend otherwise. Perfect deliverance on this 
point is distinctly reserved to the glad day of the 
resurrection. But I call attention to the fact 
that this very reservation at once removes all per- 
sonal responsibility for, and gxiilt on account of, 
the continued presence of the unbalance or carnal- 
ity in the literal physical fle$h. It is certainly 
unbalanced. It is surely "uncle;)!)" from the 
absolute standpoint of the Almighty. But we 
cannot help that. We arc black, but not guilty 
or responsible, because ai present' there has 
been made no " way of escape." I beg of my 



332 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

critical readers to let this sink deep into their 
minds. 

" Where there is no law there is no sin." # God 
hath said it. And it is certain that at present 
there is no " law " for the removal of this carnal 
weakness, or tendency from our physical flesh. 
j But there is a law for continually keeping it 
under, that is, absolutely denying it any excess, or 
any violation of the proper place or time. There- 
fore there is no sin in its presence, at least so far 
as our responsibility is concerned. "It is ap- 
pointed unto all men once to die." Hence, " death 
worketh in us." Decay goes right on while this 
present environment lasts.f But "sin is not im- 
puted"; and therefore, as all sin is cleansed from 
the heart or will by the precious blood of Christ, 
his perfect righteousness (even in the physical 
body) is accepted in our stead, and God is " w T ell 
pleased." Thus he was "pleased" with Enoch. 
Thus he called Job and Noah " perfect." 

In the spirit, — the heart or will, — the death 
to self is actual. All sin is cast out when the in- 

* Romans iv. 15. + See "Alpha and Omega," Note viii. 



" «. . r,v- . ¥ ,m™ " 



WHAT IS THE "CARNAL MIND. 

dividual experiences his Pentecost. There is no 
sin on the heart, and there is no sin in the heart 
either. But in the case of the body things are 
different. The death to sin there is merely "reck- 
oned." It is not yet actual,— not till the resur- 
rection. There is no sin on the body, but there 
is sin (strictly) in the body. The first work — in 
the spirit — is a positive work, holiness is actually 
and directly imparted by the Holy Ghost. The 
second — in the physical body — is not a positive 
work, holiness is imputed by the Spirit of truth. 

One great mistake made by earnest Christians 
is to whip themselves because of the mere pr< 
ence of the bodily appetites and passions. They 
think they cannot be holy unless they are dead to 
the natural motions of the physical flesh. And a 
host of teachers and preachers have never clearly 
seen this necessary distinction between the flesh — 
the carnal mind in the heart, and the flesh — tin- 
physical organism. (Remember that every ap- 
petite and propensity of the natural body is made 
of God/\ It is not a sin to have it at all. J It is 
eminently right and proper that it should be the 



334 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Monks and nuns are made from the wrong view 
of this subject. Sin arises only when one of these 
proper appetites is allowed to step out of its right 
place, — when it is not kept under. It has a 
place, but that place is under the will, which, 
when sanctified, always says "Yes" to the will 
of God. " To everything there is a season, and a 
time to every purpose under heaven." But when 
we let them out of their "season" or "time" it 
becomes sin. I conclude, therefore, — 

1. That the carnal mind is the seed of Satan, 
transmitted through the race from our first parents 
under the inflexible law, " after his kind." 

2. That after regeneration (conversion) this 
carnal mind remains in the. heart and in the body, 
unaffected as to its inherent character, and in- 
capable of improvement, being always under sen- 
tence of death, and that death is the only possible 
means of its removal. 

3. That at the time that the believer appre- 
hends and receives Christ as his sanctifi cation and 
is baptized with the Holy Ghost, and with fire, 
this sentence is carried out literally and actually 



WHAT is THE "CARNAL MIND." 

in the heart (or will), and the old man is put otf', 
as well as his deeds ; the " body of sin being de- 
stroyed " from the heart. 

4. That the carnal tendency to blind and un- 
reasoning or instinctive indulgence in any and all 
of the appetites, desires, and ambitions of the phy- 
sical flesh, still remains, and continues to remain 
in the holiest saints until the resurrection (practi- 
cally, in this age, till they die). 

5. That while we live the rule of our being is 
to "keep under the (physical) body, and bring it 
into subjection" to the sanctified will, which will 
has been given up wholly to God. , We must 
watch every day against the temptations to excess 
or neglect, which arc so easily and naturally fallen 
into ; and, if we so " watch and pray " we will find 
that God, " with the temptation always provid< 
way of escape that we may be able t<> bear it." 

6. That in this blessed realization of salvation 
we have both state and standing in Christ perfect 
and assured. Our standing is always and only in 
Him. And our* state is without sin either in or 
on the' heart, and without sin on the body; but 



336 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

with sin (from God's absolute standard) in the 
body, till we die, or the resurrection day comes. 

7. That the holiness of Christ is imparted to 
our spirits by the Holy Ghost, thus fulfilling the 
command, "Be ye yourselves also holy" (R. V.) ; 
but that this holiness is imputed to the physical 
body at present. The body is yet carnal, but 
" sin is not imputed," because there is now no law 
prescribing a way of escape. Nevertheless we 
groan, looking for the " redemption of the body." 

I am persuaded that a clear apprehension of 
these simple distinctions will remove a great many 
clouds from the theological sky, and raise a flag of 
truce on many a battlefield. Search the Scriptures 
with the aid of scientific logic, and see if these 
things be not so 



CHAPTER V. 



£be Cross ant) pballic Worabip 



I m> -fV NDER the head of " Phallic Worship " 
!/ the American Encyclopedia gives the 
following : — 
<^^<!j) "Phallic Worship, the adoration of 
°P5 the generative organs as symbols of 
the creative power of nature. In early ages the 
sexual emblems were adored as most sacred ob- 
jects, and in the several polytheistic systems the 
act or principle of which the phallus was the type 
was represented by a deity to whom it was con- 
secrated ; in Egypt by Khem, in India by Siva, 
in Assyria by Pul, in primitive Greece by Pan, 
and later by Priapus, in Italy by Mutinus or Pria- 
pus, among the Teutonic and Scandinavian nations 
by Pricco, and in Spain by Hortanes. Phallic 



338 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

monuments and sculptured emblems are found in 
all parts of the world. In the cave temples of Ele- 
phanta, Salsette, and Ellora, and other sanctuaries 
of Siva, the lingham or phallus, frequently in con- 
junction with the yohni or cteis (the symbol of the 
female organ), its counterpart, is every where 
prominent. In Egypt it is sculptured on the 
walls of the temples, or erected as obelisks before 
them. The crux ansata* so common on Egyp- 
tian monuments, symbolizes the union of the ac- 
tive and passive principles of nature. In the 
Etruscan tombs have been found crosses formed of 
four phalli. The two obelisks before the temple 
of Hieropolis represented phalli, as did many of 
the stone pillars of whose erection we have his- 
toric record. The columns set up by Sesostris to 
commemorate his victories are said to have borne 
phallic emblems. 

" The Spanish conquerors of America found 
phallic symbols in Mexico, Central America, and 
Peru. In Panuco the phallus was adored in the 
temples, and in Tlascala were worshipped both the 

*See Plate 37. 




Plate 35. 



Misery in Companionship 



THE CROSS AND PHALLIC WORSHIP. .^41 

phallus and the' cteis In the court -of the grand 
temple of Cuzco, and in front of the temples of 
Yueatan, stood phallic pillars ; and many monu- 
ments, the object of whose building is lost in anti- 
quity, such as the Round Towers of Ireland, the 
Druidical stones, etc., are believed by some to 
have a similar significance. Phallic processions 
and observances are said by Herodotus to have 
been introduced from Egypt into Greece by Me- 
lampus. Iu the former country the phallus of the 
bull Apis was carried iu procession during the 
festivals of Osiris by women, to the music of flu! 
In Greece the emblem was used in the festivals of 
Bacchus, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Apollo, and 
was borne openly iu processions by bearers called 
phallophspoi, to the music of phallic songs. Ac- 
cording to Saint Augustine the phallus was conse- 
crated in Rome in the temples of Liber, and the 
cteis in those of Libera. At the festivals of 
Venus the Roman matrons adored the emblem in 
her temple on the Quirinal, and bore it thence 
with great pomp to the sanctuary of Venn 
cina, outside the Colline gate, where it was pre- 



342 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

sented to the statue of the goddess and then 
returned to the former place. In the spring the 
Roman rustics carried the phallus across the fields, 
to insure fertility. (These processions were finally 
suppressed by the Roman senate on account of the 
immorality which sprung from them^) 

" A secondary point was the use of the emblem 
as a fascinum or charm against evil influences. 
With this object it was put over gateways and 
doors, just as the horseshoe is by the superstitious 
of the present day, and hung around the necks of 
children, as a preventive against witchcraft. It 
was also worn by barren women with the belief 
that it would conduce to fruitfulness. For a like 
purpose votive offerings of phalli were often made 
in the temples, (Great numbers of small ones in 
bronze and porcelain have been found at Hercu- 
laneum and Pompeii and in the Egyptian tombsl^x 
In the ninth century the use of the phallus as an 
amulet or charm was so general that it was anath- 
ematized by the church, and the anathema was 
repeated in the thirteenth and fourteenth centu- 
ries; but to this day, in some parts of Italy, the 



THE CROSS AM) PHALLIC WORSHIP. 343 

peasants still hang the emblem on the necks of 
their infants to protect them from the evil eye. 

"Phallic worship still prevails in the cast. In 
the temples of Siva the phallus, crowned with 
flowers and surmounted by a golden star, is ex- 
posed in the sanctuary, and lamps arc kept burn- 
ing before it. The devotees of Siva wear small 
images of the emblem, made of gold, ivory, or 
crystal, as ornaments, and they arc often buried 
with them. Offerings of phalli arc still made in 
the Buddhist temples of China by barren women, 
just as they were by Roman wives in the temples 
of Venus."* 

Another authority says: "The phallus was the 
representation of the male organ of generation, 
and was used in the Dionysian festivals of ancient 
Greece as the emblem of the power (A' procreation. 
It was the object of common worship through the 
nature religions of the east, and was called by 
many names, as linga, joni, pollea/r, etc. Origin- 
ally no other meaning was attached to it than the 

* At the present time this embl< m is in use among the Theosophi 
titly, in lecturing in San Francisco, Mrs. Annie Besanl wore one 
upon ber breast It came from India, ami was <>t _ 



344 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

allegorical one of the mysterious union between 
the male and female, which seems to be the rea- 
son for the continuance of the animate creation, 
but later its worship became so vile as to be put 
down by the Roman senate on account of the 
fearful immorality to which it gave riseX 

The Phoenicians trace its origin to the worship 
of Adonis, Egypt to Osiris, Phrygians to Attys, 
and Greeks to Dionysus. All contain the myth 
of the god deprived of the powers of procreation, 
and slain by Typhon, the serpent deity. Headers 
of my work, "Alpha and Omega, or The Birth 
and Death of the World," will see here the truth 
of the shutting out "of the sun's fermenting power 
by the serpent-like vapors of the Edenic age, and 
w T ill be struck with the connection of this with the 
absence of fertility or procreation under that con- 
dition of things. 

The processions in honor of this worship were 
called phallagogia, and the hymns sung at the time 
'phallikon melos. The phallus was generally made 
of red leather and attached to an enormous pole. 
Some phalli were of great size; one carried in the 



THE CROSS AND PHALLIC WORSHIP. 345 

procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus being one 
hundred and twenty yards in length, and covered 
with gilding. (^Aristotle traces the origin of comedy 
to the ribald jokes made on such occasion^/ Be- 
fore the temple of Venus at Hieropolis stood two 
phalli one hundred and twenty feet high, upon 
which, at certain times, a priest climbed in the 
performance of the rites of worship. 

In the mysteries of Freemasonry great use is 
made of the famous "point within the circle, 
The writers of Masonry give the following account 
of the origin and meaning of this sign. In "Tra- 
ditions of Masonry," p. 87, we rend: — 

"The mysteries among the Chinese and Japan- 
ese had similar rites. 'In these, a ring supported 
by two serpents was emblematic of the world pro- 
tected by the power and wisdom of the Creator; 
and that is the origin of the two parallel lines 
(into which time has changed the two serpents) 
that support the circle in our lodges." 

"It is evident that the sun, either as an object 
of worship or of symbolization, lias always formed 

e Plate 36. 



346 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

an important part of both the mysteries and the 

system of Freemasonry The parallel lines 

indicate the limits of the sun's extreme northern 
and southern declination when he arrives at the 
solstitial points of Cancer and Capricorn. " # 

Past Grand Master Mackay, in his " Symbol- 
ism of Freemasonry," page 353, says: " The point 
within the circle is derived from the ancient sun 

worship, and is in reality of -phallic origin 

The lines touching the circle are said to represent 
St. John, the Evangelist, and St. John, the Bap- 
tist, but they really refer to the. solstitial points, 
Cancer and Capricorn, in the Zodiac." p. 352. 

" Perfectly to understand this symbol, I must 
refer as a preliminary matter to the worship of the 
phallus, a peculiar modification of sun worship, 
which prevailed to a great extent among the 
nations of antiquity. The phallus was the sculp- 
tured representation of the membrum virile, or male 
organ of generation, and the worship of it is said 
to have originated in Egypt, where, after the 
murder of Osiris by Typhon, which is symbolically 

* See "Alpha and Omega," Plate 27. 




Plate 36. 



The Point in a Circle. 



THE CROSS AND PHALLIC WORSHIP. 349 

to be explained as the destruction or deprivation 
of the sun's light by night, Isis, his wife, as the 
symbol of nature, in search for his mutilated body, 
is said to have found all the parts except the 
organ of generation; which myth is simply sym- 
bolic of the fact that the sun having set, its fecun- 
dating and invigorating power had ceased. The 
phallus, therefore, as the symbol of the male 
generative principle, was very universally vener- 
ated anions the ancients, and that too as a reliffi- 
ous rite." p. 112. 

" Osiris is supposed by some commentators to be 
the god mentioned under the name of Baal-peof 
in the book of Numbers, as having been wor- 
shipped by the idolatrous Moabil 

In the "Manual of the Lodge" Mackay says, 
page 56: " The phallus was the representation of 
the male generative organ. It was represented 
usually by a column which was surrounded by a 
circle at its base, intended for the cteis or female 
generative organ. This union of the cteis and 
phallus, which is well represented by the point 
within the circle, was intended by the ancient- as a 



350 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

type of the prolific powers of nature which they 
worshipped under the united forms of the active 
or male principle, and the passive or female princi- 
ple." 

In "The Lexicon of Freemasonry," page 353, 
we read, "The phallus was the wooden image of 
the membrum virile, which being affixed to a 
pole, formed a part of most of the pagan mys- 
teries, and was worshipped as the emblem of the 
male generative principle. The phallic worship 
was first established in Egypt. From Egypt it 
was introduced into Greece, and its exhibition 
formed a part of the Dionysian mysteries. In the 
Indian mysteries if was called the lingam, and was 
always found in the most holy place in the tem- 
ples. It was adopted by the idolatrous Israelites, 
who took it from the Moabites when in the 
Wilderness of Sin, under the name of Baal-peor." 

Many people are ignorant of the fact that the 
cross was in existence long before the time of 
Christ Its origin lies in the remotest antiquity; 
and of that I now wish to speak. It was used as 
a means of punishment for a great while before 



THE CROSS AND PHALLIC WORSHIP. 351 

the beginning of our era, but it does not appear 
that any connection between its use as a punish- 
ment and as a religious emblem existed until the 
crucifixion of Jesus. 

All its forms may be resolved into four.* Of 
these the first was the Greek cross, composed of 
four equal arms, forming right angles. This is 
found on Assyrian tablets, Egyptian and Persian 
monuments, and on early Asiatic and Greek coins, 
as well as upon Etruscan pottery. The oblique 
form, or St. Andrew's cross, is also very common 
in ancient sculpture. The Latin cross, or crti.r i,n- 
missa, occurs on monuments, medals, and coins 
antedating the Christian era. The crux commwsa^ 
called the tan cross from its resemblance to the 
Greek letter of that name, is generally considered 
the oldest form of the symbolic cross, and is un- 
doubtedly the most ancient sign of the phallic 
mysteries and worship.1" It was considered to be 
the symbol of the active or life-giving principle in 

■ Sec Plate 37. 

t When the upright phallus, surrounded al the top by the circle, or 
cteis, is looked at from the aide, the circle appi line crossing the 

upright, iin«l the whole resembles the T> or tau. H< 



352 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

nature. In this sense may be interpreted the 
cruciform sceptres in the hands of Astarte on 
Asiatic medals, and the symbols in the mysteries 
of Venus and of Mithra. In the cmx ansata, the 
Egyptians set forth this same " sign of life," and 
understood it to typify the union of Isis with 
Osiris, or the active and passive elements. Some 
regard it as the symbol of eternal life, or the new 
life promised to neophytes after their initiation 
into the higher mysteries. It is very common on 
Egyptian monuments, and is constantly seen in 
the hands of Isis, Osiris, and other divinities. 

This symbol was found by Layard on the sculp- 
tures of Khorsabad" and on the ivory tablets of 
Nimrud ; and it is carved on the walls of the cave 
temples of India. It was seen on the walls of the 
famous Serapeum at Alexandria, and some have 
supposed that it formed the basis for the well- 
known monogram of Christ; but this is very 
doubtful. 

The cross was very common in the British Isles, 
and among: the Gallic Celts. The shamrock of 
Ireland derives its sacredness from its resem- 



TAU C/?0S5 
(crux commissa) 



LATIN CROSS 
(CROX /SWISS A) 




ST. ANDREWS CROSS 



GREEK CROSS 




9i 



Plate 37. Variations of rin I 



CfiUX ANSATA 



THE CROSS AND PHALLIC WORSHIP. 

blance to it in form ; and in the mysteries of the 

Druids the trefoil had a similar relation. In 
Scandinavia the hammer of the god Thor, used to 
Mess the marriage tie, was a cross. In the shell 
mounds of Denmark are found cruciform hammers, 
probably used in sacrifices to Thor. A form of 
the cross is the sacred emblem of Vishnu, and of 
the Buddhist; it is found in Phoenician tombs, 
and on the oldest Greek coins, notably those of 
Chalcedon, Syracuse, and Corinth. The Spanish 
conquerors found crosses of wood erected in 
Mexico and in Central and South America. The 
Muyscas and Mayas reverenced it, and among the 
Toltecs it was called " the tree of nutriment" or 
" tree of life." 

The cross was almost universally used as an in- 
strument of torture, and of death. For this pur- 
pose all the various forms were employed. Some 
authorities insist that before the second century. 
or even later, no other form than that of the fa" 
("J") exists "ii the tombs and monuments, and tin 
general belief is that Christ was crucified upon a 
cress of that form. To this I call special attention. 



356 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

coupled with the undoubted fact of that being the 
form most particularly associated with the ancient 
mysteries and the phallic worship. 

The church soon learned to look upon the cross 
as an emblem of victory rather than of disgrace, 
and it became the chosen symbol of Christianity. 
Some assert that as early as the beginning of the 
second century a particular efficacy began to be 
ascribed to* it, and it was regarded with veneration 
(or superstition). It is found in the tombs of the 
catacombs as early as the second century, some- 
times in company with the dove, the serpent, the 
fish, and other sacred emblems. But it remained 
for the Emperor Constantine to give it the official 
position upon the ensigns of his army. From that 
time to the present the cross has been the special 
sign and symbol of the Roman power, or the fourth 
great kingdom of the gentiles, and rules every- 
where in the eastern and western divisions in one 
form or another. In this connection it is very 
noteworthy that the Reformation classed its use 
and worship with the abuses of Rome, and the 
Protestant churches have, in the main, refrained 



THE CROSS AM) PHALLIC WOR8HIP. 357 

from its employment to any great extent. In this 
the Protestant church stands almost alone, for 
even the great temples of India, like those at Be- 
nares and Muttra, are cruciform in shape, while 
many of the Druidical structures followed the 
same plan in construction. 

From all this, it is apparent that cross worship 
is but phallic worship disguised, while it is even 
plainer that phallic worship speaks of a time when 
the fecundating or seed-producing power was dor- 
mant because the solar beams were sufficiently ob- 
scured to shut out from the earth their fermenting 
and decaying effects.* It also seems that serpent 
forms were associated with the change, and that 
the virile principle itself came to be worshiped in 
connection with sun and serpent worship, while 
the symbols gradually passed into the i'^vui of the 
cross. We can sec, therefore, in the latter, the 
concentrated symbol of original sin, and the I'm 
possible form on which to put to death Him who 
came to save from sin, and purify the fountain at 
the very source. 

* Sec "Alpha and On 



358 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

The Phallus was worshipped as the "spring of 
life," or as the "tree of life." It was regarded as 
the source of life to all humanity. The """ shaped 
cross or tail suggested the union of the two or- 
gans, and hence the reproductive function and 
power. In a dying earth, however, the rule and 
law is, "dying thou shalt die," expressing the truth 
that death is at work in all organisms, and decay 
preponderates over repair. The act of germina- 
tion, or rather the condition of life which allows of 
seed forming and reproducing, means positively 
that decay is present, for decay or ferment is 
necessary to reproduction. So God said, " dying 
thou shalt die," that is, in the day, or during tlu 
period in which you eat or partake of the corrup- 
tion of evil, you shall be a dying or decaying 
race. And it has been so. 

In this connection we can see more reason in 
the Levitical law for the purification of women 
after childbirth than has been heretofore dis- 
covered. Seed forming and reproduction, being 
scientifically a process and transmission of ferment 
and corruption in excess of life and repair, placed 



THE CROSS \NI» PHALLIC WORSHIP. 

thu weight on the debit Bide of the balance, and 
atonement was necessary for the moi She 

had truly and scientifically "conceived in Bin." 

l^ut misguided man looked t seed-forming 

power as the real source of life, and hence wor- 
shipped the phallus and tau, expressive of the union 
of the male and female principles. But Jesus said 
of the angels, and oi' men and women in the resur- 
rection age, that they " neither many nor are given 
in marriage." Angels do not reproduce their kind, 
tor they know no decay whatever. We only re- 
produce that which is in danger o\' perishing. 
There is no rail for a second edition till the first 
is about exhausted. He who continues to live in 
the full possession o\ % his powers has no nerd for 
another to take his place. 

Phallic worship i> so ancient, hut it is at the 
same time very recent At the present day it con- 
tinues in eastern countries. Only lately the goi 
eminent of Japan has spoken against it. and in In- 
dia it still holds sway under tin- name of //////wor- 
ship, tho Phallus being styled lingor ' 1 
i> certainly a reason for the passion for reproduc- 



360 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

ing oneself in the human race, a passion too wide- 
spread to call for any special comment. The Bible 
student knows well the strength of this ambition 
among the Hebrews. The story of Jephthah's 
daughter stands as a sample of the way in which the 
Jews bewailed the fate of an enforced virginity. 
Among heathen nations to-day we see the same 
instinct cropping out in the familiar wish of the 
Chinese, " May you become the mother of many 
children." Compare this with the declaration of 
David in Psalms cxxvii.: "Children are an heritage . 
from the Lord. Happy is the man who has his 
quiver full of them." 

Scientifically, therefore, in our present condi- 
tions, human life is communicated or transmitted 
through death. It is because we are dying that we 
can hand over our life to another. I challenge 
scientific refutation on this point. Therefore, in 
order to save fallen man it became necessary to 
reverse the cycles of sin. Life must come through 
death, no matter what kind of life it be. The 
law "after his kind" standing guard at the door 
of escape prevented man from ever " working out 



THE CROSS AND PHALLIC WORSHIP. 361 

his own salvation " by any sort of natural process 
or evolution. What he needed was " eternal life," 
not more of the natural kind he had on hand. 
But in order that this eternal life could reach him 
in his present environment and under his present 
laws, it must enter his race and propagate itself 
by "dying." 

There is the most rigid scientific law here. 
Christ was an "incarnation"; not a natural birth. 
His advent is the miracle of the ages, and only 
the Great First Cause could do it. No angel 
could accomplish such a miracle. Before the flood 
the angels took wives, but God never took a wife. 
His power came upon Mary, and she conceived an 
Immortal Son, entirely different in quality from 
the " sons of men." In this Immortal Son tin -re 
resided the life, "in him was life."* But in order 
that this life could propagate, so to speak, in order 
that it could be handed over to men, it had to 
know the touch of death, even as the first Adam 
never generated offspring until he knew that touch. 
Therefore Christ died lor all men, lor that all have 

* John i. i. 



362 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

sinned and come short ; and through that death 
he has opened the closed door and hands over the 
gift of eternal life to the race. 

Here is the mighty difference between the in- 
carnation and all the demon imitations such as the 
union with the women before the flood. We may 
grant for the sake of argument that Satan him- 
self will be the father of the Antichrist of the last 
days, even as his lieutenants were the actual 
fathers of the antechristian race of giants in the 
last days of the old world; but it will be only a 
base imitation of the incarnation. That is the 
great miracle, the "mystery of Godliness," and 
hence is the subject of the imitations of the heathen 
w r orld. 

We can see, therefore, why in these last days 
(if they be the last) Buddhism is becoming so 
prominent and making converts all over Christen- 
dom. It is because it presents so strongly the 
doctrine of incarnations and reincarnations, tend- 
ing to cheapen the miracle of the ages and pave 
the way for the acceptance of Antichrist as super- 
human. 



THE CROSS AND PHALLIC WORSHIP. 363 

In Revelation ix. 20, we read that wicked men 
in the last days will not repent in spite of terrible 
judgments, and that they will continue to " wor- 
ship devils." If they continue to do so, they must 
have been addicted to the practice before the last 
days. Hence we have positive Scripture for the 
fact that men do ''worship demons" in our time 
as well as in the days of Moses and Joshua A 
moment's thought will tell any informed person 
that a very large portion of mankind are devil 
worshippers to-day ; most of Africa is given over 
to it, and elsewhere it is quite common. It is 
very easy to conclude that God never uttered such 
thunders aoainst a tiling which is onlv a figment 
of the fancy, and the phantasy of a dream. If the 
Bible be true at all it is certain that demons exist 
and that they can and do play a very important 
part in the affairs of men. 

The fact that germination did not occur until 
after the fall of our first parents may indicate I 
order according to law: 1. The moral oH'en 
2. The altering of the environment, as explained 
in "Alpha and Omega," allowing ferment to act- 



364 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

ively set up its operations ; and 3. The act of co- 
ition between the man and woman under the new 
conditions resulting in the production of offspring. 
In this view of the case the poison of Satan sim- 
ply slumbered until the energizing effects of the 
new order of things produced active conception, 
"and sin when it was finished brought forth 
death." How significant that this first seed was 
he who first dealt actual physical death to an- 
other ! Truly the law " after his kind " holds even 
there. 

But still another suggestion may be made on 
the point of the slowness of germination in the 
beginning. As we have seen in "Alpha and 
Omega," the environment changed at the very 
time of the original sin ; and changed so much as 
to warrant the clothing of warm skins donned by 
the actors in the great tragedy of life and death. 
Therefore ferment had begun at that very time. 
Now if the temptation and fall had only just oc- 
curred, of course, no offspring had yet appeared, 
for sufficient time had not elapsed. But now 
" Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived 



THE CROSS AND PHALLIC WORSHIP. 3G5 

and brought forth a son," etc. I suggest that 
many a child has been born into this world as the 
son of a husband, when he has been really the son 
of another man. (Women have often proved false 
to their marriage vows, and borne children which 
the husband supposed to be his; and it has even 
happened that the mother herself has been some- 
times at a loss to determine precisely which man 
was the father of her child. Therefore, it is en- 
tirely possible that Eve, who knew nothing about 
the facts of obstetrics, nor of the laws of genera- 
tion, may have been perfectly honest in supposing 
that Cain was " from the Lord," that is was the 
son of Adam, horn in proper order and sequence, 
while really he was the offspring of the previous 
union with the demon prince. 

I offer these suggestions for the benefit of the 
doubting mind who will not accept the declaration 
of the Scriptures as really meaning what it says. 
Certainly the Bible does most plainly declare that 
union with demons was and is possible, and I sin- 
cerely hope to be acquitted by all readers of origi- 
nating this statement from the depths of my own 



366 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

fancy. I have given abundant references, and re- 
fer the reader again to them. Read them, and 
quarrel with the Bible if you will, but not with 
the author of this book, who certainly never man- 
ufactured a single one of these statements, but 
who believes, in applying the most rigid tests of 
scientific law to them all, and who now submits 
the said application. 

Why did God include in the curse the words to 
woman, " I will greatly multiply thy conception?" 
The eternal fitness of things does not fail here. 
Having specifically sinned by conceiving or co- 
habiting with the original sinner (Satan), it was 
fitting that the very act of sin should become the 
means of its transmission, and of the punishment 
of the transgressor. It is thinkable that cohabi- 
tation may have been possible as a sinless pleasure 
in Eden, at least at proper times and seasons, though 
of this we, of course, cannot be sure; but in the act 
of disobedience "sin entered, and death by sin," 
and, therefore, God caused offended law to bring 
its own requital, and to be measured unto her again 
with heaping measure — "greatly multiplied." 



THE AM) PHALLIC WORSHIP. 367 

Sonic may ask why, if this strange union with 
demons produced offspring before the flood, d 
it not do so now, provided it is really practic < 
In replying to this we must remember all the ter- 
rible declarations of the Old Testament concern- 
ing the specific sin of the Canaanitcs and of some 
of the people of Israel. Beyond all possible dis- 
pute, we are overwhelmingly assured that those 
people did actually become " mistresses of de- 
mons," and that even men had "a familiar 
spirit." And it is equally sure that the most t 
rific thunders of judgment were pronounced 
against those who in any way entered into such a 
state. 

It is a little difficult to see why God should 
speak so very severely and assign such fearful pun- 
ishments if all that was done was simply to talk 
with spirits, that is, to only become a medium in 
the sense of communicating thoug] 
ceiving them from beings of another sphere. But 
the great fact stands out before us that God ex- 
hausted language in denouncing the sin, and ab 
lutely exterminated all who touched ii in any \\;i\. 



368 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

However lightly some reader may see fit to regard 
this sin, the Allwise God seemed to look upon it 
as the plague of the universe, and to esteem nothing 
too severe as a disinfectant or preventive. 

[If, however, the language of Scripture be taken 
in its plain and ordinary sense, and we really ac- 
cept its declarations that women, and perhaps 
men, entered into such relations with wicked 
spirits as to positively know something at least 
similar to sexual intercourse, thereby receiving 
into their mortal flesh the very spawn of hell, and 
becoming tainted through and through with the 
essence of evil, the action and words of the Al- 
mighty begin to appear somewhat more reasonable, 
and the punishments assigned take upon them the 
nature of necessary scientific fumigation and puri- 
fication for the actual life and safety of the rest of 
the race, not to speak of the demands of grieved 
and offended justice^ 

Reading the record with care, we are impressed 
that the extraordinary race of giants found in and 
near Canaan were closely akin to those who ap- 
peared upon the scene just before the flood. The 



THE CROSS AND PHALLIC WORSHIP. 369 

parentage of the latter we certainly know, for the 
Word declares it; they were the sons of the 
wicked angels by the daughters of the antedilu- 
vian race. In the case of the Canaan itish cdants, 
we are not told so positively that they were of de- 
mon descent, but as union with the demons was 
most specifically the great sin of their people, and 
as they were specially doomed to extermination by 
the word of the Lord, and the reason of this 
special sin assigned for their destruction, the con 
elusion seems very well sustained that they also 
were of the evil strain. A close study of the 1 [e- 
brew words used to designate these giants, gives 
much strength to the above argument. Hence, I 
conclude that there is almost nothing against the 
belief that the Anakiin and others of like struc- 
ture were partly, at least, the offspring of the un- 
natural union with spirits for which they and their 
parents were sentenced to absolute extermination. 
Some one will now ask why such giants are not 
now seen on the earth? and whether there* is any 
evidence that offspring now exist as a result of 
this demon intercourse. By way of preliminary 



370 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

answer I call attention again to the express dec- 
larations that in the last times men shall " worship 
devils," and that a widespread attention shall be 
given to " seducing spirits, who forbid to many," 
etc., and to all other texts we have considered in 
connection with these — the necessity for women 
in this age to have their heads covered " because 
of the angels," the tendency to be led captive as 
"silly women" by seducers, etc., etc. Surely 
there is much in the Bible to warrant the under- 
standing of the word of Christ, that " as it was in 
the days of Noah so shall it be in the days of the 
son of man," which we have already given; that is, 
that the very sins of Noah's day shall be repro- 
duced. And beyond dispute this was the great 
and crowning; sin of his time. 

A suggestion along the lines of truth discussed 
in "Alpha and Omega " may be pertinent here. 
Evolutionists are very ready to claim that " miss- 
ing links " might be found if only the environment 
and conditions were more favorable to such devel- 
opments than at present. I accept this suggestion 
far enough to say that it is thinkable that the en- 




L'late :; v Th i I 



THE CROSS AM) PHALLIC WORSHIP. 373 

vironment of the antediluvian age was more favor- 
able to the actual development of the demon seed 
than in any age since that time. Surely this is 
scientific, the evolutionist being witness. As we 
see in "Alpha and Omega," the lingering vapors 
in the sky after the flood certainly did affect the 
span of life until the da} T s of Moses and Joshua, 
and it may be that under such conditions the de- 
velopment of the evil progeny was more possible 
than at the present day. 

But if we are approaching the crisis, and the 
Coming Age is looming above the horizon, it is 
entirely possible that some magnetic quality in 
the environment may reach us in advance of the 
crash; some effect as sudden and mysterious ;cs(Ia, 
grippe may sweep down among us, and touch tli<- 
life principle in the race in such a way that the 
old result may again appear, and offspring like 
those of the days of Noah once more curse the 
earth. Certainly we do now see giants in wicked- 
ness as perhaps never before. And it is notice- 
able that the wickedness of our day takes the form 
and orarb of the intellectual rather than the brutal. 



374 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Even in the mighty preparations now being made 
on every hand for the last great and awful war 
which all agree will convulse this planet as none 
other ever did, this intellectual, and if you please, 
this refined disguise, is universally adopted. \But 
the seeker after truth looks deeper than the sur- 
face, and sees in the frightful engines of war, the 
terrible high explosives, the general mobilization 
of the armies, the gigantic loans and debts all on 
account of war, while professedly " to preserve the 
peace/' and in the growing indifference to the 
death and destruction of multitudes instead of in- 
dividuals, — the truth seeker, I say, sees in all 
these infallible sighs that wickedness has its 
" giant offspring" in one very important sense at 
least.A And he who remembers that the whole is 
simply of a kind with its parts must conclude that 
there are individual giants of evil under and back 
of all this national strife and sin. 

I cannot tell just what elements are necessary 
in the environment to allow of the reappearance 
upon the earth of the physical giants of previous 
ages, but I surely know that a scientific reason 



THE CROSS AND PHALLIC WORSHIP. 

must have obtained for their existence at all 
What scientist will dare to dispute the assertion 
that when a whole race was of gigantic stature, or 

DO ' 

when a large number of such giants abounded, 
there must have been a reason in the surroundings 
and conditions of life to account for it. And who 
will deny the possibility of the incoming of some 
influence upon the earth which may revive or 
reproduce such growths? Those who read the 
chapter on " The War of the Stars" in "Alpha 
and Omega" will see facts that canst- the n 
solemn thoughts in many great minds. The con- 
junction of the giant planets may possibly send us 
such an influence as that of which I have just 
spoken. I merely suggest; assertion would !>«• 
very foolish ; but as such conditions did once exist, 
and as I know there must have been a natural 
reason then, so, if such things arc to be again, the 
same or equally operative cause- must come in. 

Scripture <l)">, not plainly say that Antichrist 
will be the actual son of Satan by a human moth 
but in the light of all that it does say, and the 
many facts herein presented, there certainly seems 



376 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

to be a very strong probability for that conclusion. 
And if this unnatural union between spirits and 
our race once produced offspring, there is certainly 
no scientific reason why it may not do so again. 
To dogmatise to the contrary, in the presence of 
all the facts studied in this book, is certainly very 
unwise. 

fin the light of all this it will be better seen 
how much fallen man really is, when we find him 
in all ages worshipping the very thing which, in 
its abuse (note carefully, not in its proper use, but 
its abuse), brought in sin and death. The phallus 
and cteis have been enthroned as deities, and the 
unclean tau, or cross, made the symbol of religion 
in all countries. But it also shows the marvelous 
depths of salvation which stoops to man just where 
he is, and hesitates not to touch and transform the 
very emblem of sin itself and cover it with the 
shining glories of Heaven and of God. Man is 
the victim of sin; he is "conceived in sin" with- 
out his own consent; born into a world of sin 
whether he will or no, and finds himself over- 
whelmed by its terrible effects working death in 



THE CROSS AND PHALLIC WORSHIP. 37 7 

him in spite of all he can do. Therefore it is j 
that a *' way of escape" be offered him, and fitting 
that this way is such as to exactly reverse all the 
conditions of the fall, and tracing the steps hack- 
ward, actually bring life out of death 



sr 



CHAPTER VI. 




XTbe fasten? of Jniquit^ 



,KOM the heights of Eden, let us re- 
view the marshaled ranks of facts and 
theory which we have gathered. 

It is prehistoric time. Man has not 
yet appeared on the planet; but over 
its wonderful surface, in the midst of the stones 
of fire, moves the covering cherub, he who 
" sealed up the sum, perfect in beauty," Lucifer, 
the son of the morning, the prince of this world, 
and the chief of the archangels of God. By some 
strange inworking of thought, his "heart becomes 
lifted up because of his beauty," and "iniquity was 
found in him," and God cast him down. # 



* For a full discussion of the nature of Satan and of angels in gen- 
eral, see "Alpha and Omega," chapter on "Satan." 



THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

Chaos ensues, and the world whirls through 
space, a darkened sphere, "without form and 
void." But "God said, let there he light," and 
forth from the chaos came cosmos in all its order 
and beauty. "And God saw that it was very 
good." But a new lord and ruler must be found, 
and after all else had been done, God formed man 
in his own image, and gave to him the new world 
as his domain. At once Lucifer rages with jeal- 
ousy and hate. This being, to whom all the new 
creation bow. in unquestioning submission, must 
be destroyed by some means, and God's plan 
thwarted, whatever it may be. Carefully the 
campaign is planned. The weakest point in the 
defenses is eagerly sought; and by comparison 
with the brute creation, the sex principle 
shrewdly selected as the most powerful and far- 
reaching in its influences and consequences. 

The time is chosen carefully when the rising 
tide in the blood first begin- to make itself felt, 
but before it has reached its highest mark and 
full significance discovered. Eve is approached 
with temptation disguised "as an angel of light," 



380 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

promising greater revelations of truth, and yet 
casting a doubt on the simple word of the Lord. 
Utterly innocent and entirely ignorant of sin, 
she yields the point of vantage to the "higher 
criticism " of the wise archangel, and, looking on 
the temptation in the light of his suggestion, sees 
it suddenly become "a thing to be desired and to 
make one wise." Undue and unnatural excitation 
is applied to the organism, and the woman be- 
comes " the mistress of a demon," thinking him to 
be an angel of light. A little later, and the evil 
knowledge of the unnatural possibilities is com- 
municated to the man; he yields to the tempta- 
tion exerted upon him by the excited state of the 
woman, and gives up his will also to the tempta- 
tion — and 

PARADISE IS LOST ! 

God comes down to see what has been done, 
and the searching question, " Where art thou ? " 
brings the guilty pair before him. The curse is 
pronounced, first upon the serpent, and the 
promise of a Mighty Deliverer to come through 
the very seed, which the tempter thought hope- 



THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 381 

lessly poisoned for all time, is given. The an- 
nouncement of the changed condition of the 
woman, and of her subjection to her husband's 
will and desire, follows; and then the clothing of 
skins recognizes the new-found shame, and, at the 
same time, the blood of sacrifice for sin. The 
climate changes, cold comes in, decay begins, and 
the Edenic state has gone into the past. 

Cain is born, but Satan guesses he is not the 
promised seed, and begins at once his evil work- 
ing. The smoke of Abel's sacrifice has hardly 
cleared away when the blood of the first martyr 
reddens the earth, and the long, long tragedy of 
the race begins. Courage, archangel ! you may 
yet defeat the divine plans. With renewed en- 
ergy the adversary bends to his work, and down 
through the centuries only a mere scarlet line 
stretches across the dark, dark page of antedilu- 
vian history. "And God saw that the wicked- 
ness of man was great in the earth, and that every 
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was evil, 
and only evil continually." The whole world was 
filled with iniquity. 



382 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

But the dragging centuries, with their poisoned 
fruit, are too slow for the seething hate of the 
serpent, and some quicker means for the destruc- 
tion of the detested race must be found. In a 
moment of hellish inspiration, the lieutenants of 
the Satanic host decide to imitate the example of 
their captain, and completely pollute the blood of 
the entire generation. The plan is approved, and 
the " demons (originally sons, or creatures of God), 
saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and 
took them wives of all whom they chose." 

This time there was no disguise. "Higher 
criticism " had borne its legitimate fruit. No- 
body had to be ""deceived" now; for all were 
sunken in iniquity. The demon lovers " came in 
unto the daughters of men, and they bare children 
to them, the same becoming men of renown " — 
renown in wickedness, naturally inherited from 
their parents. The deed was done ; the end was 
accomplished; the whole race was poisoned hope- 
lessly beyond redemption ; the iniquity of the gen- 
eration was full ; and there could be no possible 
remedy, and no safety for the single, lonely line* of 



THE MYSTERY OP INIQUITY. 

the children of Seth, but the absolute destruction 
of the entire race. 

Noah's preaching fell upon careless ears, as 
Enoch's had done before him. Eating and drink- 
ing, marrying and giving in marriage — the grati- 
fication of all the fleshly appetites to the full, 
aided by the sciences and inventions of fifteen 
hundred years, and intensified by the evil power of 
the blood of the demigods — these were the occu- 
pations of the fallen multitudes, until the day that 
Noah entered into the ark, and God shut him in. 

Terror strikes through the ranks of hell as the 
swirling waters of the mighty catyclysm engulf 
their giant progeny, and fallen mothers, in o 
common and terrible destruction. Has the Al- 
mighty determined' on their destruction also \ And 
over the howling of the tempest arise the shrieks 
of fear from the demon hosts, and of hatred of the 
God of a judgment so long delayed. 

But courage, archangel ! these who emerge from 
the ark, are the same kind of men. To the 
attack! They are no stronger than their fathers. 
And surely the result justifies the belief, for under 



384 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

the shade of Noah's sacrifice the old secret of 
shame is touched again, and the curse falls upon 
Canaan, from whose loins are to proceed the seven 
nations, upon whom descends the same fearful sin 
that will finally bring their " iniquity to the full." 
The powers of evil take heart once more and 
soon, upon the plains of Babel, God is set at 
naught by the unbelieving crew, who strive to 
build a monument so high that no delude can 
ever reach its summit. Again the hand of the 
Almighty is stretched forth in judgment, and the 
tribes disperse to the four winds, as confusion falls 
upon the tongue, and fear fills the heart. But 
Satan rallies his cohorts, and speedily spreads the 
seeds of idolatry among the fallen race. The sun, 
which apparently had driven away the vapor roof 
of the previous age, # and whose terrible power 
for heat and climatic changes is now felt for the 
first time, must be propitiated; while the arching 
serpents in the northern heavens gradually dis- 
appearing in polar snows furnish foundation for 
myth and marvel, and thus begins the long line of 

* See " Alpha and Omega." 



THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

superstitions and idolatrous practices, whose very 
names are legion, and whose rites and orgies ha 
deluged the world with blood and shame. 

Another effort of divine love and mercy calls 
out Abraham, that the experiment of a select and 
isolated people may be tried. But what cares 
Lucifer ? Promises of future " seed " are not 
feared. He lives and works in the great present, 
and wages war against his Creator while he can. 
Only a few years, and the chosen race languish in 
Egyptian bondage, and with desperate purpose the 
powers of this world are inspired to destroy the 
line through which the Lord had said the prom- 
ised "seed" should come. And so successful is 
the effort that once more the Almighty has t<> 
stretch forth his hand in consuming judgments, 
that through the crystal gates of the divided - 
the marching hosts of Israel may reach the shore 
of freedom for which they had prayed. 

Is Lucifer discouraged? No, not yet. Pausing 
not to mourn his allies, drowned in the avenging 
waters, he stirs tin 1 hearts of the newly emancipated 
slaves to rebellion, and the people murmur ;«t 



386 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Marah, and wish for the flesh of Egypt. A little 
later Mount Sinai is " altogether on a smoke," arid 
from the thick darkness comes the voice that 
shakes the earth and the sea, and to which no 
created flesh can listen unmoved. But the daring 
demon dashes among the hosts, and even while 
Moses and Jehovah commune together on the 
mountain's summit, at its base the jewels are flung 
in the furnace, and around the golden calf the 
people join hands in sin once more. # 

Surely God will give up the fight, and wipe out 
the offending race. Ah, listen! That is very 
nearly what He proposes to his faithful servant; 
but Moses' prayers prevail, and the desert march 
is begun. Again the battle is pressed, and soon 
the people cry for flesh; and, while the recollection 
of the fate of those who ate is still fresh in their 
minds, the same old sin is brought in again, and 
the Midianitish woman is taken to the tent of the 

* The phallic emblems were placed upon the temple of the god 
Apis — the sacied bull. The ten plagues that fell upon Egypt had 
each a distinct reference to, and fitness for, a special god, and a special 
branch of the Egyptian idolatry, just as in the case of the Philistines, 
already noticed on page 266. 



THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

man of Simeon. Judgment again falls, sharp and 
terrible, for God will not sit still very long when 
that old trump card of the Devil is played ; but 
the sin goes on, and heathen wives henceforth 
form the chief allies of the great adversary. 

Joshua leads the nation into Canaan, but his 
body is hardly cold in death before the worship of 
Astarte in all its filthy and cruel horrors sweeps 
in, and captivity follows captivity for lour hun- 
dred years. The demon-filled women of Canaan 
are too much for Israel. [Even Samson, tin- 
strongest of men, lays his head down in Delilah's 
lap, and dies with his enemies in the temple of 
Dagon.* The wives multiply; the groves rise- 
everywhere; the children pass through the fire 
unto Molech; diviners abound; the living Beek 
unto the dead (literally "to the spirits of Python") 
and. wizards arise on every hand, while the 
" woman, the mistress of a demon " is ready with 
her infernal arts to lead other souls into the cap 
tivity of hell. (Will the daughters of Eve never 
cease to follow their mother's footsteps? And the 

■ Tin- god of the phallic vronbip. 



388 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

sons of Adam not learn to refuse to join with 
them? No, not in this age.) 

The kings are allowed to take the rule, and the 
" man after God's own heart" begins so well that 
Satan's work is checked. But even he falls with 
a Hittite woman, # and his splendid son builds a 
palace for Pharoah's daughter, and adds hundreds 
of the forbidden races to his harem. It is not 
long before Ahab seeks out the daughter of the 
Astarte-worshipping Zidonians, and the name of 
Jezebel is stamped upon the history and " mystery 
of iniquity " in letters of unfading fire, while Ma- 
nasseh adopts all the sins of the Canaanitish peo- 
ple; and soon the tribes go into captivity once more, 
in which state the nameless abominations multiply 
of which we have only the hints of Ezekiel, but 
are spared the awful details.f Courage ! Again, 

* Who thus became one of the direct ancestors of Christ, making it 
possible for the Incarnation to scientifically touch the very bottom of 
the pit of sin, that the lowest might be saved. 

+ See Ezekiel viii. 7-16. The ''weeping for Tammuz" spoken of by 
Ezekiel, was a rite in the worship of the sun, and closely connected with 
the unclean "mysteries of Baal-peor," as the T or to-u with which 
Tammuz begins signified. Writers on Freemasonry identify Tammuz 
with Adonis, upon whom the sensual goddess Venus lavished her de- 



THE MYSTERY OF LNIQI II V. 

Archangel, you may yet succeed in defeating Je- 
hovah. Certainly the laboring centuries hav< 
far produced nothing but sin, and its results; l>ut 
a wonderful change is at hand. 

Yet once more God puts forth his hand; and 
this time the primal promise is suddenly brought 
upon the scene. The- power of the highest over- 
shadows the simple Jewish maiden. II<>\\ Satan 
had laughed at the possibility of its fulfillment. 
Had he not poisoned the entire blood of the ra< 
And was not the law " after his kind" absolutely 
opposed to the "seed of the woman " ever being 
anything but sinful? It could not be. J hit "with 
God all things are possible," and even this was not 
excepted. "A body thou bast prepared me. 
Ah ! Lucifer forgot that the God who arbitrarily 
creates, can as arbitrarily purge if He see lit. 'Hit- 
absolute consecration of the lowly Mary, " lie it 
unto me even as thou wilt," enthrones the will oi 
the Lord, and at that will takes place the [no 
nation — a conception without the taint of sin. As 

Even tin: line of Christ, through the llittiir, Bathshi 
t Elebrewi \. 5. 



390 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

always, the son is counted from the father, and 
thus appeared another spotless creation, the sec- 
ond Adam, made in the likeness of God, and the 
express image of His person, the only pure birth 
that ever took place among the race of man. 
"That holy thing that shall be born of thee !" # How 
many rise up just now to dispute that assertion of 
the angel ! In the ranks of the most spiritual 
multiply those who fall under the old heresy of a 
" carnal nature in Christ, inherited, from His 
mother."! Truly the very spirit of the age is only 
Antichrist. 

The wonderful scene by Jordan's banks follows, 
where the great archangel strove in vain for the 
mastery. The second Adam " kept his gar- 
ments "\ spotless, and the specious plea for a mo- 
ment's " worship " was hurled back from the sin- 
less heart of the Son of Man. Authority was 
asserted, and at the " Get thee hence, Satan ! " 
the first manifest bruising of the serpent's head 

* Luke i. 35. • 

t Why the agitation of that particular heresy just at this time ? 
Surely all lines converge to the great focus of the age. 
X Revelation xvi. 15. 




'I'm 



THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 393 

began. But with courage that would be splendid 
in a good cause, the fallen spirit returned to the 
fight, through his human allies. Rejection fol- 
lowed rejection, and from the gates which had 
opened to receive the humble King upon the 
ass's colt the dishonored Lord walked forth to re- 
turn no more, and the doom was pronounced upon 
the rebellious nation. 

With redoubled energy the battle is pressed ; 
the traitor is found even among the "chosen' 
twelve ; Gethsemane, the scourging, the crown of 
thorns, the judgment hall, the death sentence, the 
weary, struggling march beneath the heavy cr< 
the taunts of the multitude Calvary! 1 low fast 
the crowding eagles* troop to the Demon's stan- 
dard! What a wonderful day in the history of 
sin ! 

The cross! Ah! few of us know its dark and 
dreadful meaning. We think of it a- a type, but 
are ignorant of its hellish significance. But that 
I feel that these are truly the last day-, and that 

the truth in all its fearful power is needed for the 

* Luke wii. .">7. 



394 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

conflict with the Man of ■Sin, I would never have 
written the truth on this point. So many mem- 
ories cluster round the cross on which the Re- 
deemer of men gave up his life. So many millions of 
lips have been pressed to the symbol of the cross in 
devout recognition of Him whose blood was shed 
for our sins. So many voices have joined in the 
mighty anthem of those who, with Paul, glory in 
naught " save in the cross of Jesus Christ." Yet 
I believe that the truth, rightly understood, will 
only serve to intensify these feelings of reverence 
and awe, as we stand before the cross. 

The cross was not good in itself. As well try 
to make a friend of death. The cross was accurst 
as was every one who died thereon. Hence Jesus 
" was made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed 
is every one that hangeth on a tree." # It is only 
the power and presence of Him who hung upon 
it that makes the cross of any importance to us. 
Therefore, when I say that the cross was from all 
antiquity the most concentrated emblem and sign 
of the foulest filth and sin, and reveal the fact that 

* Galatians iii. 13. 



THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 

it was the famous phallic emblem, called by the 

unclean devotees of the vile mysteries, the "sign 
of life," I do not in any sense touch a sacred 
thine-, for the cross was never that. He who was 
holy and sacred hung upon it, hut it was only vile. 
But now mark the double significance. 

About that fated spot the hosts of hell sweep 
round with intensest hate and fiendish deliffht, as 
the wonderful being of whom the voice had spoken 
the tremendous words, "This is my beloved Son," 
rejected by those he came to save, deserted by his 
friends, and left without manifestation of miracu- 
lous power by the Almighty, is finally nailed 
the vile and cursed cross. Surely Archangel ! thy 
triumph has come at last, Victorious in Eden, 
but trembling at the promise ^\' the wondrous 
seed of the woman, the great leader of the demon 
hosts has waged successful war all along the cen- 
turies, with but occasional defeats, until in the 
Jordan wilderness the second Adam hurls him 
hack without the slightesl acceptance of tin- temp- 
tation. But now the end is accomplished in .in 
other way. To the first Adam the word was 



396 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

given,; " Thou shalt surely die," but to the second 
death is brought and forced upon him. If he die, 
victory rests upon the banners of hell; and if he 
die polluted by the curse of the foul heathen sym- 
bol, and thus becomes a curse, how can he ever 
redeem others when himself he has become un- 
clean ? 

Calvary is reached ; the motley procession halts; 
the unresisting form is stretched upon the fearful 
symbol; with resounding blows the cruel nails are 
driven through the tender flesh; the instrument 
of torture and of death is erected, and set in the 
rock; and before the universe He, who himself 
was the Life of men, dies upon the intensive em- 
blem of the very deepest abyss of sin into which 
their evil hearts and hellish tempters had plunged 
the race. How the demons howled in hoarse 
acclaim the chorus of their exultation over the 
fall of the second federal head of the hated 
race ! # 

* The ancient traditions held that the tree of knowledge stood upon 
Calvary, and near by the tree of life. If the site of our first parent's 
residence was at Jerusalem, the types and analogies are very full. There 
the sin was committed by which came death to all, and there the Second 



THE MYSTERY OF [NIQUITY. 307 

But see ! Terror strikes again through the un- 
clean ranks as the dying head is lifted and the 
shout of triumph "It is finished!"' rings through 
the depths of the most distant space. The dark- 
ness falls, the dead come forth ! What can this 
mean ? Their cursed " sign of life " cannot account 
for the bursting tombs and rending veil. The 
hours pass quickly, and as the third day is break- 
ing, with sudden sweep of regal power the depths 
of hell itself are invaded by a single warrior. 
With kingly stride he moves through the dread 
abode of death, and without touch or word, hut 
merely at the motion of his supreme will, hinds 
the awful king in chains that can never part, and 
with the greatest monarch at his chariot wheels 
that ever graced the triumph of a conqueror, the 
Lord of Life and Glory "led captivity capti\ 
while the escorting "twelve legions of angels" for 
which he could have called even at Pilate's judg- 

Adam by his death brought life for all. There Cain waa born, the 
and evidence of the birth <>f sin; aud there waa Riven by the 1>I<><>.1 the 
seal and power of the "new birth," whereby "Chriat La formed within 
us, the hope of Rlory." Prom the liill adjacent, where grew the olit 
the type of life He aeoended; and there lie will descend bringing life 

eternal to his people. 



398 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

ment seat, and for whom he now " presently" 
asked his Father;* in heavenly harmonies chanted 
the anthem of welcome, " Lift up your heads, Oh ! 
ye gates, and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors, 
and the King of Glory shall come in !" + And 
as they marched and sang, from the battlements 
of the Eternal City swept down the question, 
" Who is the King of Glory ?" Hark to the an- 
swer, ye demon hosts, watching the triumphal 
progress of your Conqueror from the depths of 
the pit; listen, and know. With the full strength 
of the twelve legions of holy voices swells up the 
mighty answer, — 

'-< The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory !" 
TJie miracle of the ages is accomplished. Out 
of the very jaws of death has been wrested life. 
The Saviour of men has not hesitated to stoop to 
the very bottom of "all the iniquity of the crowding 
centuries, so that no soul of man can ever rise and 
say, He did not meet my case. Into the depths 
of our sin our Lord has plunged, yes, even to the 
unclean phallic sign and all that it implied, has he 

* Matthew xxvi. 53. [ + Psalms xxiv. 







Tin: H RIQH I 



THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 401 

carried his mighty salvation. The primal promise 
is fulfilled; "the seed of the woman has bruised 
the serpent's head," and the doors of a free and 
fall redemption stand open to the fallen race. The 
wrath of man i*iid of devils is "made to praise 
him,"* and even the vile and terrible cross is so 
hidden by the precious blood of Him who hung 
upon it that its very nature is changed, and with 
united voices we sing: — 

" In the cross of Christ I glcry, 
Towering o'er the wrecks of time; 

All the wealth of sacred story 
Hovers round its head suhlime. " 

The blood cleanseth even the vilest, and the res- 
urrection life and light glorify that whirl i was 
"dead in trespasses and sin." " How unsearchable 
are thy judgments, O God! And thy ways past 
finding out!" 

* Psalms lxxvi. 10. 




CHAPTER VII. 

Gbe CUmay- 

UT the end is not yet. The mystery of 
jj iniquity still works, though with the 
certainty of final defeat. Pentecost 
S5 again strikes terror into the demon 
ranks, but always eager to disbelieve 
God, the opportunity is seized to again try the 
power of temptation upon men. This new church 
is made of the same kind of people; they have 
succeeded every time before in causing them to 
fall. To the attack once more! 

The names of the thousands are scarcely en- 
rolled when " Satan fills the heart of Ananias and 
his wife tar lie to the Holy Ghost." # Judgment 
falls, but the battle presses on. A few days later 

* Acts v. 3. 



THE CLIMAX. 403 

the widows cause the first schism in the infant 
church,* and the long line of difficulties and de- 
vices begins, which have ever since occupied the 
1 lands and minds of the mass of the members 
much more than the work of saving souls. Poli- 
tics in the church! Adopt the ways of the world! 
These be thy weapons, Archangel! for the new dis- 
pensation. Courage once again! The "leaven- 
ing'^ goes on rapidly, so rapidly that in the first 
two centuries the special heresies originating in 
the Christian church number some two thousand. 
One of these sects taught that Cain was the holy 
seed, and the sons of Seth the evil, and called 
themselves "Cainites"; while another, going still 
farther, styled themselves the "Ophites," or ser- 
pent worshippers, and deified the serpent of Eden 
himself. Truly, it does not take long to defeat 
the followers of the Nazarene, however invincible 
lie himself had proved to be. 

But the old weapon is too effective to he al- 
lowed to rust. The mysteries must he revived. 
Ah! they had never died. From Egypt tl 

* Acts vi. J. I Matthew xiii. 33, 



404 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

mysteries had moved to Babylon, where they 
flourished in the days of the Chaldeans and magi- 
cians of that wonderful empire. With the decline 
of Babylon, after the conquest of Alexander, the 
teachers and priests of these abominations found 
their way to Pergamos, where they were in power 
and authority in the time of Christ. Remember- 
ing this, we are able to fully understand the double 
statement of the Lord to John in Revelation ii. 
13, "Where Satan's seat is," and " Where Satan 
dwelleth." Reading on, we see that at Pergamos 
were those who held, "the doctrine of Balaam, 
who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before 
the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto 
idols, and to commit fornication." 

We must pause here a moment to show the 
force of this reference to Balaam and Balak. No. 
tice that both Peter and Jude, in the terrible utter- 
ances we have already discussed, mention this 
matter of Balaam. And here is the Lord himself, 
speaking to John, at the very end of the sacred 
canon, alluding in a special manner to the identi- 
cal thing. In the message to the church at Thy- 



THE CLIMAX. 405 

atira, in the next verses, the same charge is 
brought, and Jesus says that this particular .sin is 
"The depths of Satan. "* 

Turning back to Numbers \\iv. and \w. we 
find that, immediately following the prophecy of 
Balaam, "Israel began to commit whoredom with 
the daughters of Moab. And Israel joined him- 
self to Baal-peor; and the anger of the Lord was 
kindled against Israel. And Moses said unto the 
judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that 
were joined to Baal-peor." But just as this sen- 
tence had gone forth the man of Simeon, Zimri by 
name, took the Midianitish princess, Cozbi, to In- 
tent "in the sight of all Israel." And then it was 
that " Phineas, the son of Aaron, rose up from 
among the congregation, and took a javelin in his 
hand; and he went after the man of Israel into 
the tent, and thrust both of them through, the 
man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. 
So the plague was stayed from the children of 
[srael." For this God specially commended 
Phineas, and gave to him and his Beed the " cpve- 

l;. • . ttion ii. 24. 



406 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

nant of peace," and to this Malachi alludes a thou- 
sand years later. Moses specially refers to this 
great sin in Deuteronomy iv. 3, where he men- 
tions the fact that all the men who participated in 
it had been destroyed. Paul refers to it in I. 
Corinthians x. 8, and David in Psalms cvi. 29, 
mentions it as coupled with the " sacrifices of the 
dead," thus bringing to mind the depths of Spirit- 
ualism. Certainly the sin was very great to secure 
so frequent mention in the Scripture. 

From this brief analysis, it is clear that the 
very same sins upon which God had sent such 
terrific judgments in the wilderness, and which 
had been distinctly described as, " offering sacrifice 
to devils [demons] after whom they had gone a 
whoring" (Leviticus xvii. 7), and as having fa- 
miliar spirits, etc., were now to be found at Per- 
gamos and at Thyatira. And these sins are 
expressly identified with those taught by Balaam 
through Balak, which, as we have seen, both 
Peter and Jude distinctly describe as being the 
sin of sexual intercourse with demons, for which 
the angels that sinned are reserved unto fire, and 



THE (UMAX. 40i 

Sodom and Gomorrah suffered tin* vengeance of 
eternal fire. How wonderfully the unaided wok! 
of the Lord by its cross references makes clear 
the whole thing to one who runs ! 

The church at Pergamos, then, as well as al 
Thyatira, is warned to repent and to hold fast, 
while those among them who had this doctrine 
are included in the doom pronounced against all 
such sinners. And all this before the Apostles 
themselves had gone to join their risen Lord. 
Truly, Satan's leaven worked quickly. 

A little later, and the mysteries had moved 
again, this time much farther west: and on the 
banks of the Tiber they found a home and resting 
place. Here the same abominations were # taugh1 
under slightly different names; but the mysteries 
were the old, old iniquities that have marked the 
footsteps of Lucifer through the ag< B. Menu- 
while the leaven of worldly methods and means 
had been working in the church. The search for 
power to supply the place of the lost Holy Ghosl 
of Pentecosl resulted in the greal compromise act, 
when Constantino went through the tare,' of a 



408 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

simulated conversion, and the council of Nice 
legislated the marriage of the church and the 
world — a marriage that has known no di- 
vorce in all the centuries since, and will not 
know any until the Lord himself appears in 
flaming fire to burn up all such bonds of Satan's 
forging. 

The heathen soldiers were ordered to carry on 
their sun worship on the first day of the week, 
and the day was called " Sunday." Previously 
the Christians and heathen worshipped on different 
days, but this adroit stratagem of the wily em- 
peror blotte'd out the evident distinction, while the 
name of the day "satisfied the heathen for the 
change of the time for their worship. Then the 
great phallic emblem, the obscene " sign of life," 
was foisted upon the Christians, as the emblem of 
their religion (it had not been so used up to this 
time), and the thing was arranged well enough to 
suit the devil himself, for, from that day to this, 
the world has disported in the plumes of the 
church, and the church has borrowed the garb of 
the world, until the difference between a churchly 



THK CLIMAX. 109 

world and a worldly church passes the power of 
any human microscope to discern. 

In the west the names were changed to suit the 
advance in thought, and in deference to the Chris- 
tians. The "Queen of heaven" became "The 
Mother of God"; the "forbidding to marry, and 
commanding to abstain from meats," which marked 
the religions of the eastern mystics, weir bodily 
transplanted into the new soil; and the angel, 
looking at the rapid transformation, and consider- 
ing the long centuries of unclean nesa to come, 
styled Rome, " Mystery Babylon the Great; the mother 
of harlots and abominations of the earth." Revela- 
tion xvii. 5. 

Surely the great adversary prospers wonder- 
fully in his warfare. \We read of the Pope Alex- 
ander, father and lover of the vile Lucretia; of the 
general adulteries of the priests, as recorded by 
their own historians; and of the unspeakable vile 
ness of monks and nuns, much of which is 
horribly filthy to be recorded at all, except in 
Latin notes that no one lias the temerity fco tran>- 
late^\ Even the saintly Pi" Nono issues the 



410 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

order providing for the " Priest's Retreat," where 
the coraeliest nuns shall be kept for the use of 
the " holy fathers," while the unspeakable horrors 
of the confessional have filled even the writings 
of Catholic historians with protests and wishes 
for a purging of the old leavenTX But it works 
steadily on. 

But even all this is too slow for Lucifer. In 
great wrath, knowing that his time is short, his 
minions busily seek to revive the old mysteries in 
all their power and significance. Again, woman 
is urged to stretch forth her hand for knowledge ; 
and, as with uncovered head, forgetting the 
angels, # she reaches after the promised good, on 
every hand she is solicited towards spirit loves and 
alliances. Dressed as " angels of light,"f the de- 
mons come. From Europe and Asia, from the 
fastnesses of Thibet, and the temples of India, 
from the philosophies of infidel states, and from 
the islands of the sea, the cry is, " mysteries I" 
Ah ! we have it. "Esoteric;" that is the word. 
It means " hidden," and stands in direct antago- 

* I. Corinthians xi. 10. t II. Corinthians xi. 14. 



THE CLIMAX. 411 

nism to the simplicity of the living Gospel, which 
is always " exoteric " — outward, on the surface. 
But the cry is very taking with the herd of 
knowledge seekers. 

The beautiful in art is worshipped; nature is 
perverted; the flesh is considered coarse ; the new 
philosophy turns to the realm of mind. There is 
no such thing as matter; it is only an idea. Now 
the light breaks — spirit is the only reality. 1 1 cue.' 
we must abstract ourselves entirely from the Been, 
and revel in the unseen ; and, as we do so, we find 
all the desires filled and more than gratified with 
spirit. The angel of light must have an orthodox 
name to deceive the very elect. How will Chris- 
tian Science answer? Most admirably, lor the 
age is scientific, and the elect must be caught with 
a bait that seems to be Christian. So the old. <»ld 
game is played once more; the same old trump 
card that won Eden is thrown down on the table 
of this age, with the confidence horn n\' countl 
successes, and the end draws on apace. 

But the ancient desire in the breast of the great 
Archangel urges him on to a final effort Wor- 



412 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

ship must be secured at any cost. Not permitted 
to appear in actual presence himself, he determines 
to make one supreme attempt. The greatest of 
the manifestations and works of the Almighty 
shall be imitated. The Son of God shall be coun- 
terfeited, and Satan himself makes the last attack 
upon our unfortunate race, just as he began it. 
With the first woman the fall was accomplished. 
With a woman of the last generation Lucifer imi- 
tates the miracle of Bethlehem's manger, and the 
mimic incarnation of the fallen archangel appears, 
born of a human mother. The ravinos of the 
Theosophists about a second Eve are only too well 
founded; but instead of saying the race, as they 
teach, she will bring forth the " Man of Sin," the 
personal Antichrist of the last times. 

To him the dragon gives his, " power, seat, and 
authority "; # and to him the recreant sons of men 
bring their adulation, their praise, and their wor- 
ship. Like his great type — Nebuchadnezzar, — he 
makes an image, and decrees the death of those 
who will not worship it, but his image is his 

* Revelation xiii. 2. 



THE (UMAX. 4 \:\ 

own likeness. He shall sum up all power in him- 
self; no man shall buy or sell without his mark. 
"fiat money" will take the markets of the world, 
instead of the " gold of the kingdom.'' His word 
shall be the law, and "all the world wonders after 
him." The apotheosis of evil has come at I 
and Satan is triumphant. Religions are -wept 
away. "Science falsely so called " ;: is exalted, 
for he "shall worship the god of forces." t ( Ireeds 
must be given up. And through all runs the tale 
of the fornications which the kings of the earth 
and the nations have drunk with her, the great 
capital of the last and universal kingdom of evil. 

In the mighty eity, Babylon, the wealth of the 
nations concentrates, and the traffic ifl in. " The 
merchandise of gold and silver, and precious ston 
and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and -ilk, 
and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner 
vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of m 
precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, 

• I. Timothy vi. 20. 

t Daniel xi. 3s. See in tins eonneotioi 
in "Alpha and Omega" for the relationship between tngeli wd foi 



414 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

and cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frank- 
incense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and 
wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and 
chariots, and slaves [or bodies], and souls of men."* 
No wonder the angel cries, " mightily with a 
strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, 
and is become the habitation of demons, and the 
hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every un- 
clean and hateful bird. For all nations have 
drunk of the wine of her fornication, and the kings 
of the earth have committed fornication with 

her Come out of her, my people, that ye 

be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive 
not of her plagues. For her sins have reached 
unto heaven, and God hath remembered her 
iniquities."! 

But the darkest hour is just before the morning. 
Looking backward through the mist of the sinful 
centuries, the figure of Cain, who " was of that 
wicked one," stands next to Paradise Lost. Look- 
ing forward through the rapidly breaking clouds 
which hide the coming day, the Man of Sin, who is 

* Revelation xviii. 12, 13. + Revelation xviii. 2-4. 



THE CLIMAX. 415 

the concentrated incarnation of that same wicked 
one, stands next to Paradise Regained. God musi 
needs reverse the whole sad history, and that re- 
versal leads to the gate of Eden restored over all 
the sin and shame of the first days of the fall <>l 
man. The end is at the beginning. The nume- 
rator and the denominator are the same. The 
equation is struck. The age rounds up will mm a 
remainder. The iniquity comes to the full. 

But hark! A sound is breaking upon the 
ears of a startled universe. Let it ring, and ring 
again: — 

BEHOLD! THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH 1 

With thunderous, whirling wheels, and lurid 
lightning's flash, amid the throes of a quaking, 
dying earth; behold Him coming! Not a woman. 
but the seed of the woman; not the coming man, 
but the Son of Man; not in degradation and hu- 
mility, but in exaltation and power; not with 
visage marred more than the sons of nun,' hut 
with countenance like unto the sun shining in his 
strength; not like a, "sheep dumb before her 

* Isaiah Hi. 14. 



416 TEEE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

shearers," # but with a, " voice like the sound of 
many waters "; not deserted by his disciples, but 
with thousand thousands of angelic followers the 
King comes for his own. 
^-(jHe " was manifested to destroy the works of 
the devil,"f(but now He comes to destroy the/ 
devil himself, and the death that has so long bee n_ 
in the devil's power. The waters of the deluge 
regenerated the earth, sweeping away the old sins, 
and casting them in the depths of the sea ; but 
the flood of fire comes to sanctify the world, and 
burn up the roots of all evil. The " great chain "J 
is almost forged ; the mighty angel is ready to 
descend. In another hour, or day, or year, the 
waiting saints will have been " caught up to meet 
their Lord in the air,"§ and the waves of the 
great tribulation will have reached their highest 
tidal mark. But the infinite sign of life, " Sign 
of the Son of Man " IF is seen in heaven, and with 
ten thousands of his saints, the judge of all the 
earth appears. The shuddering earth shrinks 

* Isaiah liii 7. t Revelation xx. 1. 

+ 1. John iii. 8. § I. Thessalonians iv. 17. 

IT See " Alpha and Omega. " 



THE CLIMAX. 417 

before the frown of the unveiled glorified < toe, and 
the last supreme work and sin of the great arch- 
angel, with his fallen prophet, goes down like 
Korah, Dathan, and Abirani, "quick into the 
pit."* 

And the last enemy is put under his feet fon w r.f 
But through the balmy air of the purified en 
tion, echoing from the jasper walls of the "city 
that hath foundations,"! swell out the wondrous 
strains of 

THE WEDDING MAKCII <)F THE KING. 

Saints, arise ! in grace abounding; 
Hark ! the wedding march is sounding; 
Read the times, with quick discerning; 
See the signs of Christ's returning. 

In the sky His flaming banner; 

Lift your heads and .shout, hoaannah ! 
Trump of God the tidings Bummeth; 
Saints, behold ! the Bridegroom cowetb I 

Trumpets sounding, seven thunders, 
Op'ning heavens, crowning wonders, 
Usher in the consummation, 
M \ Btery mergi d in revelal 

* Numbers xvi. 33. h Hebi Bebrewi \i. 10. 



418 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Marching legions, heavens tremble, 
Soldiers of the cross assemble ! 
Lightnings signal, thunders drumming, 
Wheel in line, The King is coming. 

The portals swing wide before the countless hosts, 
and through the lifted gates the "ransomed of the 
Lord come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy 
upon their heads, while sorrow and sighing flee 
away" # forevermore. The heavenly choirs take 
up the mighty chorus, saying, "Alleluia; for the 
Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad 
and rejoice, and give honor to him ; for the mar- 
riage of the Lamb has come, and his wife hath 
made herself ready," t 

The triumphant hosts sweep into the palace of 
the king, and there, the marriage spoiled on the 
site of Jerusalem of old, is restored in Jerusalem 
the new, and more than restored, for " Thy 
Maker is thy Husband," J 'Baali gives place to 
Ishi,§ and his people are one in him, even as he is 
in the Father. There is room for all, and to 

* Isaiah xxxv. 10. + Revelation xix. 7. + Isaiah liv. 5. 

§ Hosea ii. 16, 17; married to the Lord, not to the " lords" of the Baal 
worship. 




Plate 41. 



'1 UK H \LI.I MM \H < H 



THE CLIMAX. 4 2 I 

spare; and with the saints of all ages, the pro- 
phets and the patriarchs, the good and the gr« 
the martyrs and the nobility of the suffering 
years, the overcomers of the serpent, who con- 
quered through " the blood and the word of their 
testimony,"* sit down with their Lord in the "ban- 
queting hall;" and " his banner over thein is 
love."f 

If there be anything in this little book that has 
caused a shudder ; if there be anything apparently 
too offensive to be borne; if there be revealed any 
depth almost too profound for human credence ; if 
there be any shadow seemingly cast upon cher- 
ished objects of faith and reverence ; open your 
eyes to apprehend that the strength of the pain 
speaks the more of the power of the Healer, the 
sting of the offense testifies to the grace of the 
Burden-Bearer; the abysmal depth echoes with 
the name of Him who stooped down even there 
to save ; and the shadows on the type but serve 
to bring out in startling relief the blazing light 
that streams about the Antitype. 

* Revelation xii. 11. + ( 4. 



422 TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 

Greater the foe, and stronger the fight, 
Greater the Victor; darker the night, 
Clearer the stars, in their heaven-born light, 
"Kept." 

Tell of the strength of the chains, now riven, 
Sweeter the tribute when " much forgiven," 
Chief of the praises that ring in heaven, 
"Kept." 

Scripture certainly does say these things. If 
they are not true the Bible is not true. But the 
voice of science loudly calls attention to the many 
strange facts and mysterious occurrences described 
in this book, and logically compares modern facts 
with ancient history, and equally ancient predic- 
tions concerning the last Age. The intelligent 
student who is capable of receiving evidence is 
forced to credit at least enough to convince him 
that all these things have begun to come to pass, 
and is ready to believe that this Age is drawing 
to a close, whatever may be the nature of the 
next; while the earnest believer in Revelation, 
with quickened pulse, and the joy of the great 
Hope thrilling every fibre of his being, hears anew 
the words of the Master, " Look up, and lift up 
your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh." 



thk climax. | -j:; 

(The majority of men are incapable as jurors?) 
They cannot impartially weigh evidence, for with 
them some emotion, or sympathy, or prejudice 
overrides logic and calm judgment. Those, how- 
ever, who can decide dispassionately often possi sa 
the elements necessary to leadership, and hence 
as they read and study over the facts presented in 
this book, conviction may follow judgment, and 
other voices be lifted against the partaking at the 
present time of the 

TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 




LECTURES 



(APTAIX R.KELSO (AirFKK. 



1. The Science of Puratlisc Lost; or, Hie Rirtli of 
the World. 

A masterly presentation of the facts of science, and tin 
meats of Genesis, including many of the "mistakes of Moa 

9. The Science of Paradise Regained: or. i ii«- i >< : 1 1 li 
of the U(nl<l. 

A startling and utterly new examination of the predictions of 
science and Scripture concerning tin Coming Crisis and the 
Golden Ago. 

3. Spiritualism ; Done, Outdone, Undone. 

The tricks of Spiritualism reproduced and explained, and the 
"seamy side" exposed. 

4. The Tree of Knowledge. 

A lecture to audiences of one sex only. Mi d i il, Sc entil 
tural, but startling in the extreme. A plain but delicafc 
rpiiry into the nature of the sin of Adam and Eve, the mm of the 
angels, and the crowning evil ol thi 

5. Heading* and Recitations (from his own writings), Lit- 

erary and I dramatic. 



For engagements, terms, etc., ad 

CAPT. R. KELSO CARTER, 

San I'lti Hciscft. (fifi/m a if . 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 



ALPHA AND OMEGA; 

OR, THE BIRTH AND DEATH (IF THE WORLD. 



An original and startling book, presenting in a popular manner the 
most remarkable study of the Creation, according to Scripture and 
Science, ever yet brought out by any man, and an 

• • * ABS OLUTELY NEW • • • 

Theory of how this present Age will end, and the Coming Golden Age 
be ushered in. This latter theory is connected with some astonishingly 
plain scientific statements in the Bible which, strange to say, have 
never been studied or written about before by anyone, and their scien- 
tific sequence is shown in language as simple and direct as it is forceful 
and logical. 

The Scripture certainly declares that this earth will be struck by a 
tremendous swarm of giant meteors, and that a long list of scientific 
effects will follow in order, resulting finally in the reconstruction of the 
Avhole earth and the beginning of a New Age. The author is the first 
writer in the world to discover the scientific nature of these statements, 
and to present them to the public. 

The illustrations, eighty-five in number, are in the highest style of 
art, and the paper and presswork of like quality. Six hundred and 
thirteen pages, quarto, elegant cloth binding. 

O. H. ELLIOTT, Publisher, 
842 Capp Street, — - — San Francisco, California. 



V 23194B 





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